


Intruder

by Hekseri



Category: Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe, Everyone is Dead, F/F, F/M, Gen, Loki's Kids, M/M, Manipulation, Minor Violence, Odin's Parenting, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Politics, Prompt Fill, Slow Build, War, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-26
Updated: 2014-06-04
Packaged: 2018-01-02 16:31:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 26,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1059060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hekseri/pseuds/Hekseri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>About one hundred years after death of Tony Stark – genius, billionaire, philanthropist and superhero – a strange alien race invaded Earth. Humans fought bravely but failed to protect their planet.<br/>Young Prince Loki arrives to Midgard on his father's behest and quickly discovers a mysterious building where he meets a strange illusion of a man who died years before his birth.<br/>In every corner of the Nine Realms plots against Odin's rule are forming. Is Earth going to regain it's independence? Will leaders of other realms have they revenge?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based on this prompt: http://tonyloki.tumblr.com/post/34945219816/au-in-which-loki-is-a-mortal-born-centuries-after-the  
> This is going to be a very long WIP. VERY LONG.  
> Characters will be added in the tags when they'll appear, I'm not entirely sure who will and who won't make an apperance, yet.  
> If you want to figure out everything on your own you can go read the actual text now. This is some kind of introduction.  
> I base some things on 616 universe, and a little bit on 8096 and 811. But only some things, I am not a specialist when it comes to comics, I've read some, that's all.  
> There are some things you might want to know before you start:  
> Loki knows he his adopted, he knows Odin killed Laufey.  
> Loki and Thor are still very young, barely adults. Loki hasn't betrayed anyone yet, nothing bad has happened.  
> Very important thing: Earth was almost raised to the ground, the cities were rebuilt and don't look like they used to, they are not even placed exactly where they used to. The whole Earth changed geographically, culturally, EVERYTHING has changed, even language.  
> Marvel Wiki can answer a lot of questions if you are confused. Questions like: Who the fuck is this?

He was so utterly bored. Odin and his ridiculous ideas.  _ Go to Midgard, our new colony, study it! It is your duty as a Prince! _  New interesting planet his ass. Humans were so boring, they had no festivities and didn't gather in public places to socialize, all they did was to walk quickly through the dirty streets and maybe talk a little bit between themselves. What kind of society was that? Everything was so colorless and... neuter. Boring. Such a waste of time, when he could study magic instead. Who knows how long is he going to has to stay on this dull planet?

He had to take Fenrir and Jormungand with him which was not an ideal arrangement. He trusted no one with their safety for long and with them here he at least could immediately react when something happened, if they were to stay at home that wouldn't be possible. Therefore he had to take his children with him to this depressing place.

What a waste of time! But he tried to be a good son, of course, and as his father requested he abandoned his studies of magic and traveled to Midgard. To say he was disappointed was an understatement. And to think he used to beg Odin to take him here when he was younger. Well thank Norns he didn't, he had such a better things to do at home.

Naturally, his dear oaf of a brother was so happy to travel here, so eager. All-Father possibly will allow him to participate in one of outskirts reconnaissances. Prospect of bashing a few Chitauri skulls is all it takes to put Thor in a good mood. Loki smirked a the thought of his brother almost jumping from the excitement like little boy in a full armor and with a Mjolnir in hand. Please, Father, can I smash some Chitauri now? It was easy to keep Thor happy, it was either a good fight, good feast or a little bit of mischief performed by Loki. The Trickster, on the other hand, was not so easy to satisfy or impress.

Foreign culture was, of course, always fascinating but humans seemed to be lacking it. They all were so... withdrawn. It was understandable that they might be a little bit wary of him - he was a Prince after all, but even when he observed them from afar there was not much going on in their lives, that was not how common folk acted back in Asgard. Loki didn't believe his scholars when they called Midgardians stupid. Their civilization might be less developed then Asgard's, but that didn't mean they were stupid, it was a common conclusion when dealing with a foreign culture. Idiots came to the idiotic conclusions when they faced something they were unaccustomed with. Loki strongly believed it was how it always worked when new civilization was discovered, but humans seemed to be an exception of this rule.

They should at least show a little bit of gratitude! Odin saved them from Chitauri, did he not? Of course, he later kept the planet but Asgard was surely better than Thanos! Humans ought to know that. Nothing is for free. Besides, as a less developed civilization they can gain a lot from this arrangement. Like how to built taller buildings for example, how can it be the only really tall building was an Asgard's stronghold? Unbelievable.

“Prince Loki?” And there he finally was, one of his most trusted servants - Sigurd. “Apologies for my lateness. I have nothing to defend myself with.”

Loki looked at him grimly until he saw servant squirm a little bit. “There will be no punishment, do not fret, my dear Sigurd.” He said in a light tone which had young man look up with a smile. “But remember: I will not take it well if you shall make it a common occurrence.” He added in a threatening voice and congratulated himself on a flash of fear in Sigurd's eyes. Keeping his staff in check and maintaining they loyalty and trustworthiness was not a easy task, but it was manageable.

“Boys are asleep in their chamber. If I should not be back at usual time make sure they eat dinner.” He began to strip of his armor since he won't need it now and it would only be a nuisance. “Brün is in charge of the guards today, she will come to check if everything is in order as usual. Any questions before I leave?”

“None, my Prince.”

“Excellent, If there will be something wrong... if there will be anything wrong you know what to do. Do be more vigilant, this is not safe palace in Asgard. No one is to enter my chambers, not even the All-Father himself, is that clear?”

“Of course, my Lord, as you wish.”

Knowing he is keeping his sons in capable and loyal hands he let himself relax a little bit. It was time for a trip. He concentrated and felt a bolt of energy going through his body starting at his feet and ending at the tip of his head. He opened his eyes and took a moment to get used to his smaller height. He took a closer look in a mirror and flattened his new short hair in the mirror. Everything seemed to be in order. Satisfied with his disguise he teleported to one of Midgard's streets, far away from the Asgard facility.

It looked... different, more dirty but more colorful too, buildings here were definitely older and unkempt. He saw several people throw him curious looks and started walking on the sidewalk to blend in. After he walked for what felt like an hour and discovered that all of the streets look mostly the same he heard quiet music coming from the open door of one of the buildings. Loki slowed down and saw a couple coming in, he walked closer to the entrance and looked inside. It was some kind of inn. There were tables, most of them empty, and a counter with a innkeeper behind it, cleaning mugs. Most of the tables occupants were caught up in conversations but there was an old man sitting at the back alone staring at his empty mug gloomily. Loki walked his way and sat down at the table next to him and then proceeded in observing his surroundings.

“You look terribly out of place, kid. Got lost in our glorious city?” spoke the man on his left. Loki looked him square in the eyes and smiled.

“Not at all, I am exactly where I intend to be, simply came here to entertain myself a little bit, I do love to participate in an interesting conversation.”

“Interesting conversation you say? Well then, kid, if you've got something that will help on my dry throat I might entertain you as you say and tell something about how it was before all this” he threw up his hand gesturing at nothing in particular “nonsense.”

Well that ought to be interesting. Loki reached into his pocket and waved towards the innkeeper with a odd rectangular piece of paper humans used as currency. The man at the table next to him eyed him curiously.

“Have you ever been in a bar, boy?”

Loki considered his answer for a moment. It would be unwise to tell the truth, but he was obviously doing something wrong.

“Not in this area. I'm... from south, deep south. Always lived on the outskirts, I never had a chance to visit... a bar.”

Stranger raised his eyebrow and leaned back on his chair.

“From where exactly? And how did you travel all way up here? It sure wasn't easy.”

Not liking where this where going at all Loki looked at the man menacingly and put the piece of paper into his pocket.

“It is not concern of yours. I shall leave now.”

“Hey, hey, don't get all prissy on me for simply being curious. Sit down.” Stranger caught his wrist and pulled lightly but quickly let go when Loki shot him a warning look. “Or don't. Look, give me that money and I'll go get us some beers, how that sounds to you, huh? And then I'll tell you everything you wanna know. How about that?”

Loki sat down and gave the man the piece of paper without a world. Stranger smiled broadly at the site and hurried to a counter. When he came back he was caring two big mugs and was swaying slightly but didn't spill even a drop.

“So what do you wanna know, boy?”

“What do you know?”

“About the Old Times? Quite a lot, you see, I was ten when the whole invasion started, so I may not know everything about the Old World but at least it's something, it's more they told you at school if they even told you anything true.”

“How the world looked like... fifty five years ago, then?”

“Fifty five? Nah, kid, that's when the second invasion started, the one with all those Asgardian guys. I'm talking about... Chitauri they were called, if I remember correctly. Terribly ugly if you ask me.”

“Yes, of course. I forgot. Asgard came to free humans from Thanos.”

“Free from Thanos? That's what they teach you at school? And Thanos? Who the fuck is that?”

“Thanos is a leader of Chitauri, he led invasion on Midgard and that is why Odin came here, to fight him.”

“Well, that's awfully noble of him. And thanks for freeing us! We are so happy now!” The man raised his mug in the air in a toast; and then nearly spilled all of his beer at the table when he tried to drink it. 

“You do not seem very grateful, why is that? Living under Odin's rule is much better than under Thanos', Midgard can gain a lot from Odin's protection, it may help develop this civilization greatly.”

“Stop it right there. Just... stop, kid. They brainwashed you! You poor fucker. Why are you not drinking?! Drink.” He nudged Loki with his elbow. “First of all: Midgard” He spit out the world like it was poison. “It is Earth. E-A-R-T-H. You better remember that. It is how our planet is called. Second” He drew up his hand with two fingers raised. “We ain't gaining shit from this. We had technology like you wouldn't believe! And now it is all gone because of him. Back before invasion almost everybody owned a car, can you believe that? Everybody! And fuck! There were some mutant problems but they weren't hunted, none of them were locked up or anything. We weren't branded like now, human, anomal and mutie. And look at those streets! There was a life! Parties, night clubs, cinemas, malls! Do you know even what a mall is, kid?” Loki shook his head. “Well, it's kinda.. big shopy thing. Lot's of shops at one place... never mind. Maybe not everybody had a car because it not always was a good idea but everybody had at least a cell phone! Some people even a few of them! And now? Do you have a phone, boy?” Loki shook his head again not knowing what was that phone the man spoke of, but it seemed like something valuable. “Me neither. But I had! When I was just a kid. Can you believe that? I was a kid and I had my own cell phone.” The man took a long gulp from his mug and elbowed Loki again. “Drink, boy.” When Loki took a sip, he continued. “And we could fucking decide what to do with our countries. Ow! Countries! We had them. Do you know what that is: a country, kid?”

“Yes.”

'Well thank god for that at least. So you probably know there were countries, and people could fucking decide what to fucking do. And there were countries at Europe! Not that... freaky base or whatever that is. And Africa had countries too! There were no stupid mutant camps there. There were no mutant camps anywhere! Homo sapiens and Homo superior finally stopped fighting and then: bam! aliens. And while we were fighting it wasn't that bad, you know, as in human-mutant cooperation but after Asgard came it all went to hell. They locked a lot of them up, they branded us all like cattle! They built those camps in Africa, they turned Europe to their... whatever that is. There were so few people after nine years of war that even when they all moved to live in the Americas, Asia and Australia there was still lot place for lots of people. Imagine that kid, imagine there were like... three times more people on Earth. Maybe even more than that. And this is all their fault! And no one told you if you can breed or not!”

Breed? What in Nine Realms what that about? Loki thought of the way to ask about it without letting the man know he was not a Midgardian when a few men dressed in black uniforms with a yellow H on their helmets walked inside. Every person present stood up and started fumbling with their belongings, putting out some small shining cards.

“What are you starring at, boy? Get your ID out, don't make them wait or they'll get angry and you don't want that.”

Loki looked at the card the stranger was holding in his hand and concentrated a little bit. And there it was, a shiny card just like the man's next to him in his hand. One of the newcomers walked to them and straightened his hand towards them without saying anything. If Loki wasn't undercover he would not stand such rudeness and disrespect. They handed the man their cards and he waved some electronic device over them which beeped and flashed a blue light. The man frowned at something displayed at screen of his device. Loki tensed up sensing trouble and look around his surroundings discreetly.

"Wrists."

His interlocutor pulled his sleeve up and drew his hand before him, black lines with numbers under them tattooed on inside of his wrist. The man in the uniform waved with his device above it and then looked expectantly at Loki. Sadly, conjuring items was by far easier then modifying one's body. When Loki didn't react the man frowned and made a move to grab Loki's wrist.

"Do not touch me." he spat taking a step back.

The man sized him up and drew out gun from his holster. 

"Give me your wrist. Now. I won't ask again. Resistance meets with arrest. And trust me, pal, you don't want that."

Loki raised his eyebrow and smirked.

"You threaten, me? Oh, you do not want to do that, believe me."

"Yeah? And why is that? Guys, we have little Mister Rebel here, care to show him his place?" 

"Sure, why not?" Four other men in uniforms drew out their weapons and closed in on Loki.

"Hey kid, let it go, just show them your stupid stamp, they gonna see it anyway and you'll only get yourself in trouble." The stranger took a step forward and positioned himself a little bit in the way between the officer and Loki, but not fully, the man still could easily shot the prince. "Come on, guys, he will come to his senses, he is young and stupid and got into a fight with his sweetheart so he is in a bad mood and just lashing out in a bad way. Right, kid?"

Loki blinked in confusion. Strange, these humans, the man knew nothing of him and still was trying to protect him from his own authorities. He had no reason to do that. It felt... nice. But the gesture was foolish nevertheless. 

"Don't worry old man, we won't keep him locked for long, too many newcomers to keep them all for long. So, Mister Rebel, what are you going to do now? Tell us about your broken heart? We've got nice cell for you. Hold out your hands. It's not like we don't have you trapped here, there is no point in the fight, somebody may end up hurt, and we don't want that, do we?" When Loki didn't move by an inch the man took a step closer and his frown deepened. "Hold out your hands. I'm not gonna ask again. Not every gun is set on stun, you know?" 

Loki smirked at that and turned to the stranger he was talking to earlier. There was no point in pretending to be a Midgardian anymore, was there?

"Who are these men? What is this all about?"

The old man just gaped at him and that's when Loki grabbed his arm and using one of his favorite spells to get them out of the building, far away to the less inhabited side of the city. The Stranger yelped and looked around in confusion.

"What the hell? How did you do that? Are you a mutant or something? And what where you thinking back there?! Huh? You could end up in a cell, and trust me: it just sounds pretty! "The man punched him lightly in the arm with his free hand. Loki just blinked at him in confusion and let go of his elbow. "What are you, a mutie or somethin'?"

"Or something. This is not concern of yours."

"It is my concern when you pull a stunt like that and get me into trouble. And where the fuck are we?"

"It was not my intention and I don't know. Somewhere on the outskirts of the city. There is a nice forest nearby."

"A nice forest?" The man rolled his eyes. "Just let me look around and I'll tell... ohhh. I know where we are! It's old Malibu area and there it is! Old Malibu Mansion. You kid said you like a good story. There you've got a story."

Loki looked at the building standing at the end of a hill. It was the tallest private buildings on Midgard he has seen so far.  "And what is the story?"

"You think I'm gonna tell it for free? You haven't been paying attention, boy."

"I got you out of there, didn't I?"

"You only had to 'cause you got me into trouble with the Handlers in the first place, well thanks for that."

"What do you want then? Money?"

"Oh well, I wouldn't say no to that. But that's you choice, kid."

Loki sighed and took few pieces of paper from his pocket and handed them to the human.

"Will this suffice?"

The Stranger eyed him curiously but quickly hid the money in his pockets.

"Sure, why not. There is something really weird about you, kid and it ain't being not from the city."

"It is not your concern. Now, you promised to tell me something interesting about this place."

"I was about ten maybe twelve when the First Invasion started so I never met him - the Iron Man, owner of this place. He was long dead when I was born, but every kid knew everything there was to know about the Avengers, especially the first ones. 

So, you see, there was a man, a businessmen, he owned big company called Stark Industries and it produced weapons, best weapons on the market. Then he got kidnapped during one of the business trips in the war zone area. He was gone for... three months, I think, and everybody thought he was dead. 

But he came back, you know, built this suit and blasted through his captors and came back. And that was how Iron Man was born. When he came back he went a little bit banana balls and shut down the biggest part of his company. That is weapons manufacturing, but in the end it turned out it wasn't such a stupid decision 'cause when he started focusing on making other kinds of technology he was still the best and got to keep his empire. 

And he became a superhero of course, the most important. You probably don't even know what a superhero is, right kid? You see a superhero is well... a hero, he fights bad guys and so on but he has something super, you know? And there was Iron Man, man in the suit of armor flying in the sky. He became a part of Avengers later, gave them his mansion in Central Park so they could have a base. He even was a Director of Shield for some time and then the tragedy struck. 

He was fighting Ezekiel Stane and it wasn't going so well and there was some civilian I think, well someone needed saving and he had to make a call and it was a wrong one. Stane killed him, suit got ripped and metal went straight into his ribcage, shattering everything inside. He was dead when the help came. And people mourned after their hero, there was a big funeral.  
All his possessions were given away to the people he mentioned in his will, his company was taken over by someone else, but no one could ever enter the Malibu Mansion. It was strictly forbidden, few tried but the defense system scarred them away. No one knows what's in there and what he wanted to hide from everybody so much. Still sometimes kids try to break in but they never succeed. And since no one can really enter there and our aliens are not very good with technology it was left alone."

"And really no one entered there after the owners death?"

"Yup. At first I think it was out of respect you know? Respecting will of the dead man, that kind of shit, but latter curiosity got better on people and they started trying to get in, before the invasion it was a lot harder 'cause company was very protective and you could get into serious trouble for trying to break in, but now it's just one of those things kids are trying to do when they're bored."

"I see. And what was his name?"

"Whose name?"

"The owner's. Not Iron Man I presume."

"Nah, of course not. It was... Stark I think, you know, from Stark Industries. Yeah, Stark...something."

Loki looked at the sun and tried to pinpoint it's position, he still didn't have a hang out of Midgard's stars. "Thank you for your story. I shall leave you know."

"You not gonna tell me who you are, kid?"

Loki smiled at the man and shook his head. "It is not for you to know."

Before stranger could say anything else he vanished from the place and appeared in his chambers. He just managed to remove the spell changing his appearance, when he heard a rumble and a sound of bare feet running on a cold stone.

"Father!" Fenrir exclaimed and run in his direction with his arms outstretched. "You weren't here when I woke up. Why is that? Where were you, father?"

Loki picked him up and sat down at the nearest lounge. "I was exploring Midgard, looking for something interesting to show you later." He flattened his sons ruffled dark hair and sat him on his lap.

"Really? And did you find anything? Can I take Haakun with me?"

"Unfortunately, I have not found anything yet but given time I might discover something marvelous and then I shall take you and your brother with me. Speaking of Jormungand: where is he?"

"He is sitting by the window in our chambers, being sluggish as always. "

"Than you should go and get him so we can dine and go to the gardens."

Fenrir grinned at him widely, jumped off his lap and ran into his and his brother room yelling.  
"Come down, Jo! Father says we are going to visit the gardens!"

Loki stretched on the lounge, raised his hand and with the flick of his wrist the door to the room opened and a woman in full armor appeared in them.

"Yes, my Prince?"

"Have Dellingr bring dinner to my quarters."

Hlökk nodded and walked away closing the door behind her leaving him alone with his thoughts. That building... He should go there. It probably was the only remain of the days before Asgard's rule on Earth. And after what that man told him today he wasn't so certain about this place being so boring. Why All-Father changed this place so much? What was the reason behind it? In other realms conquered by Asgard there weren't many changes. Sure, political structure shifted a little but nothing seemed to be so... off while he was visiting them. Most of the people were a little bit bitter about being under Asgard's rule, but these were always nobles, people who under other circumstances would have more power, not commoners like here. Well, he should obey Odin's orders and study. This planet may prove to be worthy of his attention after all. 

Door before him burst open; a little boy with a long brown dreadlocks and braids with beads woven in them came running through them carrying a snake as wide as his arms. 

"Father! Fenrir stepped on Hymir!"

"I did not! I almost did. I swear, Father! I never would..."

Loki sat down and beckoned Jormungand closer. "Let me check if he is injured, I am sure your brother meant no harm." He pressed his hands to the snakes body and send an impulse into it's body letting a tiny green spark appear for the effect. "It must have been an accident, he is very hard to spot when he wants to be unseen, isn't that true Fenrir?"

"Yes it is! It is true Jo. I like Hymir, I would not hurt him, brother."

Jormungand eyed his brother warily and nodded his head. "I believe you. Be more vigilant next time. I never stepped on Haakun."

"Yes you did! And he bit you and you deserved it!"

"Boys, that's enough." He handed Jormungand his snake. "He is alright. No harm done. I'm sure both Hymir and Haakun are hungry."

During dinner he had to brake off two food fights and melt down an ice fortress that Fenrir built for himself under his older brothers potato assault. After three of them cleaned themselves they went to the gardens which were placed in the center of the facility and were boys favorite place in stronghold. Just when they all settled in their usual places Thor emerged from around the corner and hurried their way smiling, and with his arms outstretched. 

"Brother! Nephews! What a pleasant surprise seeing you here! You missed the afternoon feast. Hoder told us about one of battles he participated in. It was a great story."

"I wasn't in a socializing mood, Thor. It is enough trouble to get them to eat when we are alone, with a hall full of people it would be almost impossible."

Thor smiled and picked up Jormungand who started his attempts on climbing him as usual. "How are you faring, dear nephew?"

"Fenrir stepped on Hymir today, but he is fine."

"No I did not! It was an accident!" Fenrir shouted from the below stamping his leg on the ground.

"I am sure it was. You should forgive your brother."

"I know, I already did. Uncle you should see our today's battle! It was glorious! But father broke it before I could win."

While Jormungand excitedly described their food fight to Thor and Fenrir played quietly with Haakun on the ground, Loki took a moment to plan the rest of his day. He should manage to find some time to visit Malibu Mansion, as the man called the building they saw earlier this afternoon, after audience with Odin and putting boys to sleep. He wondered about what will he find inside. It could be nothing or maybe it will be some forgotten Midgardian treasure kept safely all this years. The owner was a manufacturer... maybe he could discover something interesting about their magic? If there was anything interesting about it.

  
  


***

  
  


With a flick of her hand she closed door behind her and her brother. Even in her own residence they couldn't risk being overheard. Who knows where Heimdall had his contacts?

"My dear sister, what news you have for me that is so urgent you required my assistance outside our scheduled meetings?"

Frey took off his hood and observed her as she tried to start a fire until he lost his patience and pushed her gently out of the way, and did it himself with a mutter under his breath and a simple gesture. Another reason why it's Frey who should rule Vanaheim which was his birthright, it is hard to rule a planet where more than a half of population were magic wielders and only magic you could master was moving objects from time to time.

"You know how hard it is to travel between the realms imperceptibly. Don't underestimate Odin, he may be preoccupied somewhere else but still follows our every move. We don't want to jeopardize our cause simply because you can not wait long enough. There is too much at stake."

"I understand that perfectly. But if we keep doing this on this rate we will miss our chance. And as you said: there is too much at stake." She gestured for him to sit but he didn't move, so she indulged herself and sprawled on the lounge.

"If we will need more time we will face that problem and solve it, worry not, dear Gullveig. But if we will become exposed we lose everything. We can't afford to raise any suspicions."

"If we keep doing this how you want this to be done we will be good and dead before our plan will come to an end!"

"Then we shall see that our goal is achieved by our descendants. We can not lose this fight, Gullveig. Do you not understand?"

He waved his hand and wine standing on the table in a corner poured itself into a goblet which levitated towards Frey's hand. He took a sip and grimaced in disgust and put goblet away.

"Yes, however..."

"No. If Odin discovers our plot we are not only going to die by his hand, he will turn our realms into ruins. That's what he did with Jotunheim. You may not remember how the war looked like but I do. I was there and..."

"And you let him take our sisters! You did nothing to prevent that."

"It was either this or continuing pointless bloodshed and fighting a lost fight. We had no other choice."

"And we lost everything!"

She stood up abruptly so she could face him while saying this, so she could see his expression what, as always, was pointless. Frey never gave away anything he didn't intend to. Calm as ever, it wasn't the first time she wondered if he had any feelings at all.

"We did not lost everything. If we were we wouldn't be speaking now about our revenge." 

"Look at us, brother! We are pathetic! Lurking in the shadows just to talk. We are closed in our realms. We can not travel freely without his permission! Our rule is almost symbolic, whatever he says we must obey! What is it, brother? Is it what we were born to do? Or we were born to be rulers?!"

She grabbed his goblet at threw it into the fire. How could he be so calm? Did he not care? It was supposed to hurt him more, he saw his life turn into a jest before his eyes, she only relied on stories provided by people still loyal to her family. Why wasn't he as furious as she was?

"I am a child raised by strangers, isolated from my family for most of my life. He tried to poison my thoughts, make me his little puppet, but he didn't succeed and he will regret that he even tried. By the Norns, I swear. And you, brother? You had to watch your sisters being stolen, your right--"

"I know very well how Odin has wronged me. There is no need to remind me. What is it you wanted to speak of, dear sister?"

She took a deep breath and folded her hands across her chest. There was no point of speaking about their grief with Frey. She didn't even know why she kept trying to make him react. 

"Odin is preparing to march against Thanos. He became greedy. He won't be limiting himself to clearing the outskirts of Chitauri forces anymore."

"And you know this how exactly? How can we know it is a legitimate information?"

"Few of the Odin's servant's don't feel such overwhelming love for their ruler and are in a need of money. I see to it that they know to whom turn to when they know something interesting. Among them is a beautiful woman who was present during concurring the Earth, and apparently Odin felt quite lonely, far away from Asgard and his wife. She holds a grudge after he impregnated her, and then didn't acknowledged his son like he did with the rest of his bastards, or the most it was not a first time, which I doubt it was. Another dirty little secret of Frigga's husband."

"And yet she is fond of him... in some ways."

"Maybe after hearing this..."

"She won't change her mind. She grew to attached too Asgard during her residence there. And despite seeing him as he is she still loves him."

"How?! How can she?"

"I do not know. It is beyond my comprehension."

"What are we going to do now, brother?"

And how she hated doing this, asking for guidance. She felt a bitter taste in her mouth, shame she threw that wine, she could use it now. 

"I will contact my men on Midgard and beyond Yggdrasil. You will arrange meetings with King Eitri and Stutur. Situation at Svartalfheim is to unsteady for us to try make alliances there just yet. It may also serve as additional distraction for Odin."

"Of course you want to be present on both negotiations?"

"Yes, we are working on this together, dear sister. Besides, I have more experience in dealing with other rulers. You have still much to learn, but I believe, once we get to it you start to grasp every there is to know about politics."

Gullveig gasp in outrage and poked her brother in the chest. "I can be as good diplomat as you brother!"

Frey gently took her hand in his and looked in her eyes. "Of course you can, dear sister, once you'll be instructed by someone who knows his craft and is not one of Odin's man. There wasn't a need to teach you much in this matter because only ruler you were to deal with was supposed to be Odin and that was more an etiquette not negotiations skills you were taught. It is better for him for you to know nothing about diplomacy, we all are supposed to be puppets in his hands."

She nodded mournfully and stepped back pulling her hand away from his gentle grasp. No matter how hard she'll try to set herself free from Odin's influence it will always come back to hunt her. 

"I believe I should take my leave now, the more I'm here the more it is possible for Heimdall's men to discover my absence from Fyrisvellir."

When he left she let herself relax. She knew better than not to listen to him, but nevertheless it was frustrating to wait and do everything so slowly, so carefully. They waited more than hundred years! Wasn't that enough? Odin turned them into a weak nation, those who could easily become great sorcerers had to become warriors to provide for Odin's army, their politic was almost nonexistent. He made a mockery out of their family. But he will pay. She'll make sure of it. They all just have to wait. 

***

  
  


Well, that was a fruitless activity, but he could have guessed it, Asgardian scribes were interested only in describing battles and heroic deeds, nothing of real importance. Sure, the battle could be thrilling, blood rushing in your veins, quick pulse, sudden awareness of everything around you, that jolt of excitement. But battles, as entertaining as they were, could be easily repeated, civilizations, cultures were not.

He closed the chronicle with a loud thud and stretched in his seat. He could try talking about the land with a few older warriors, but knowing most of them it will probably prove to be another waste of his time. Asking humans was also pointless. He was always good with deception and art of camouflage, but there were so many things he didn't know, to many essential things, as it turned to be, he had no idea about. The stranger didn't seem to be lying, that was not how a liar looked acted, even a good one. So what changes have been made and why?

There was a loud knock on the door. He stood up and moved to the other part of library, behind him book rose into the air and placed itself on a shelf. 

"Enter."

"All-Father has requested your presence, my prince," said Göndul and waited for his response by the door with her head bowed.

So it was time to face his father for a first time since he got here, and he has been on Earth for two weeks now, but of course, Odin had better things to do then simply inform his sons why he dragged them to this place. What he said, you had to obey or you would face All-Father's wrath. The older he got the more demanding he became.

Maybe it wasn't so bad he did not summon them until now? There was no mother here to placate him. He should leave immediately, no need to have him wait, angering him can prove to be troublesome for all occupants of the stronghold. 

"Thank you, you may leave, Göndul."

Sigurd was already waiting for him by the door to his quarters, "Everything is in order, my prince. All of guards are in place, Kára will take over at dawn and remain till sunrise. You have nothing to worry about, your majesty."

He eyed the man carefully, Loki knew he could be a little bit paranoid, but he had good reasons, he did not need stuff to remind him of this. On the other hand the man did his duties well and was loyal, no need to punish him for such a petty thing as a little bit of cheekiness. He did like when people shown some character, did he not?

"I intend to be back before Jormungand and Fenrir will be put to sleep, but I can not promise. If I will not be back make sure Skuld stays with them."

"Of course, all will be taken care of."

Loki let himself smile a little bit and walked out. Corridors of the stronghold were dark, lighted only by small torch flames, so he had to light his way with magic, this place was to unfamiliar to him to risk walking in the dark. Getting lost also wasn't the best of ideas. He took a deep breath to steady himself and tried to recall plan of the building. Did he took second or third turn left?

He sighed heavily and glanced at near standing guards. No, he will handle this himself. He closed his eyes and focused on sensing familiar energies. And there he was, Thor standing somewhere nearby on his right. He followed his brother's soul's energy and quickly found himself before grand golden door. He pushed them forward and entranced Odin's quarters. 

"Loki! What took you so long? I thought I'll be bored out of my wits while waiting here on my own."

"I had matters to attend before I came here, Thor. I won't throw everything away just because father called."

Thor raised his eyebrow and smirked. "Oh, really? And what have you been doing exactly, brother? Reading a book was so important you had to make the All-Father wait?" he grinned at him and leaned on a table standing in the center of a room.

"It was a very interesting book, even you would like it."

"Would I?"

"Probably, it was horrible," he snorted and leaned next to Thor. 

"But the question still stands: what have you been doing lately, brother? You closed yourself right after we arrived, did not exit your chambers for a week. I asked around, no tricks were performed, this is not like you. Are you not bored? That would be a novelty," he nudged Loki in the ribs with his elbow.

"I've been busy. Believe it or not, practice and feasting are not the only activities one can engage in."

"One week alone in you quarters?"

"I had to make them safe. I will not risk any harm-"

"You should not worry so, brother,” Thor put a hand on nape of his neck and squeezed reassuringly. “No harm will come to my nephews, I will not allow it. Anyone who will even attempt such thing shall face my wrath."

"You can not protect everyone, Thor. It is not your duty to protect my children."

"But it is! " Thor clapped his shoulder with his other hand and looked attentively at him. "They are my family and I love them as I love you, brother. And there is no need for such precautions, our people are loyal, no one here wishes boys any harm."

How he wanted to believe that. He never was able to see the world as Thor was seeing it. Everywhere he looked he saw prejudice, loathing and deception. He would love to be as blindfolded and terribly kind-hearted as Thor, but he couldn't, how could he? He wouldn't survive long if he was. 

"I do not have same faith in people as you do. Sometimes you are terribly blind, brother."

"That is why I have you! Too see what I can not see. There is nothing we can not achieve if we cooperate, Loki."

"That is true, Thor. It is exactly why I summoned both of you here." Odin spoke from behind them. "It is time for you to engage in expanding our kingdom,” brothers parted when All-Father reached them and stood between Loki and his brother. “For now I wish you to help in maintaining our borders, and when we will be ready both of you and Tyr, if he proves himself worthy, will join me on your first war."

"What exactly do you mean us to do while we are here, father?"

"Well, Loki, I want you to partake in raids to the borders and to explore this planet. You haven't learned about it much in Asgard because there was not much to learn, but under Asgard's protection we will change Midgard into another great colony,” Will they really? Loki wondered as Odin spoke. “thanks to our rule we will make Midgard as grand as other Planets of Nine Realms. I want you to discover our new colony's inner workings, you have to understand how hard it is to rule on such a large scale. In Asgard things are different, most of matters are established there. But this place, here everything is new, everything is under construction! It is a challenge. This planet is still weak so we have to fight our enemy harder and we have to work harder to improve it defenses. It is time for you to prove yourselves!"

"We will make you proud, father." Thor beamed at him, prospect of fighting as always put him in a good mood.

It was quite clear how this was going to play out. But maybe it wasn't so bad. Maybe he will find something here worth his attention after all.

"But mark my words: I will not accept any nonsense. This is a serious matter, not child's adventure. I will not accept insubordination." 

Yes, of course, fun was a dangerous subject with Odin, when one started enjoying himself Odin was always suddenly there to scold him. Having your own thought's was also out of the question. Odin's will and Odin's will alone was all that mattered. 

"There will be an incursion on Chitauri's base near our border tomorrow and I want you to participate in it. Uller will be in command and you will obey him."

"Can Warrior's Three and Lady Sif come with us, father? They all proved themselves to be skilled warriors."

"Yes, they may accompany you if you wish so. You depart at dawn, do not be late, no one will wait for you. And do not do anything reckless. I mean especially you, Thor. Obey Uller's orders."

"I am not the only one who gets into trouble, Loki almost always is there with me." Thor scowled.

"Yes, he is. He follows you everywhere." 

Loki drew a deep breath but before he could say anything door behind them opened and one of servants run towards them.

"All-Father! Dire news about situation at sector eleven at the border!"

"You may leave now. Remember what I told you. I don't want to be disappointed."

They both bowed and left while servant handed Odin magically sealed parchment. Loki wondered what was this about, were their enemy capable of getting through their defenses so easily? Was war coming to Midgard? 

"Are you coming with me to the feast, brother?" Thor interrupted his thoughts.

"No."

"Loki, don't be like that. Come to the feast, you shouldn't estrange yourself from everyone so much. I'll promise it will be fun, we could play a few tricks on other warriors," Thor grabbed his elbow and tried to pull him towards dinning hall, but Loki snatched his arm away and scowled at him.

"I do not want to go to the feast with you, Thor. I have some place to be."

"Oh really? What place? Can I come with you?"

"No, you cannot."

"And why is that?"

Why he always had to be so stubborn? Loki clenched his fists and tried to keep his voice even as he spoke.  
"Because I don't want you to."

"Fine, brother. As you wish. Probably it would be terribly boring anyway."

"Maybe for you."

They both turned around and went their separate ways. What an insolent prat! Loki huffed angered breath and quickened his pace. Had to make everything seem to be about him. Well, he wasn't the most important person in the world, and he should know that by now. But of course he did not! His group of friends who never left his side made sure of that. But Loki saw Thor for who he was, and he was a brash, importunate, boisterous oaf! 

He walked into the gardens and sat down on a bench to calm himself. Magic required concentration. After much more time than he would be happy with, he was able to clear his head from all unnecessary thoughts. He concentrated on energy around and within him. That was definitely one of his favorite spells.

  
  


Right after he appeared at the center of a dark room he heard a loud voice which seemed coming from everywhere say, "Intruder protocol number sixty three initiating."

This place supposed to be abandoned. He conjured an ball of light and let it flood high into the air, he didn't manage properly look around when some kind of machine slid out of the ceiling and shot his way, but long hours of practice on the Asgard's grounds were not in vain, he managed to doge out of the way and avoid being hit.

Moment later a lot machines slid out of other places. That would be a high advanced security which kept away all of the other interested in the Mansion, but they couldn't do what he could, could they? Time to put long hours of studying magic into practice. He threw a small ball of energy a the nearest machine and watched it explode with satisfaction, and that was why he got blasted in the side and slammed into nearest wall. Right, focus. He scrambled of the ground quickly and responded in fashion.

He quickly remembered moves and tricks he used while battling those of Magician's Circle that were willing to fight him, and everything he had learned during his time with Angrboda; who was more keen on using her abilities in practical manner than just sitting in the closed rooms and theorize like the rest of magicians. It was first time in many years he had an opportunity to use his skills like this and it felt fantastic. He would laugh if he hadn't be breathing so quickly.

When he managed to destroy every machine in the room he looked around. There was a staircase leading both ways with a bizarre... sculpture? or maybe some kind of machine before it, a big black chest, now layered in the dust, a remains of a what could be a sofa, definitely pieces of the small table and a fire place which remained almost unscratched. 

"Is anyone here? I was told this place was abandoned."

"Well, it's not," spoke a man's voice from behind him. 

Loki turned abruptly, he hasn't heard anybody's steps. Before him stood a man... built from light? He looked almost as any person would but he was...semitransparent. It was not like you could see through him but he definitely was not solid. He didn't send the same energy patterns as the illusions he was accustomed with and didn't look like one.

"Stop staring. And who the fuck are you?" the man circled him carefully, "Why are you breaking into my house? I have a very strict  _ no visitors _  policy. You see, I don't play well with others. They are terribly annoying. And how did you even get here? Are you a mutant? Like that Nightsomething guy?" the man leaned his way squinting a little bit. "And what on earth are you wearing? Is it what people wear this days? Very... tacky. But never mind. Let me ask again: who the fuck are you?"

Loki observed the... human? was he human? in confusion. This was one of the strangest things that happened to him in his whole life. And he was raised with Thor, and lived on the run for a few years.

"I am Prince Loki Laufeyson of Asgard. And who are you?"

The man gaped at him and raised his eyebrows looking shocked. "You don't know who am I? You come here, of all places, and you..." The man pursed his lips into thin line and looked at him disapprovingly. "You don't know who I am. Well, that's... disappointing, and offensive. I don't like you. Get out.”

"I do not need you to like me. You are the owner of this property, I presume?"

"The owner," the man grimaced. "Yes, I am the owner. I am Tony fucking Stark. Iron Man!” he threw his hands in the air, ”I don't believe it. How could they forget me?! I am awesome!" 

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Loki asked which made Stark stop at his track and shrug. 

"I kinda am. Didn't prevent you from disturbing the dead man's peace, did it? Not cool. Very, very not cool. And while we are on disturbance problems: Nice to meet you Prince Lolo Somethingson of Neverland, now kindly get the fuck out."

"No. I wish to explore this place and you are dead anyway. You do not need it."

"Don't need it?!” gasped Tony Stark in outrage. “This is my house and it was supposed to be left alone. I was supposed to be left alone. Alone means by myself. Me!” he pointed at himself with his finger and carried on with his circling. “Only me and no one else. Well, except Jarvis. He can always stay. But no one else. So I will ask you nicely again and for the last time. Get. The. Fuck. OUT!"

"No. I went through the great effort to fight your machines. I want to know what has been preserved in here. How they work. How you work," Loki took a step forward while the illusion of a man took one back.

"Well, you are not going to. Nice trick by the way, those lighting balls, how do you make them? Is it your mutant power? Or is it some device on your hands..."

Loki smirked and clasped his hands behind his back. Iron Man disappeared for a moment and then appeared behind Loki. Was he a sorcerer of some kind? But why would he ask him such a silly questions if he was? Loki pulled sleeves of his shirt so they covered his hands from view.

"And what's with that Prince thing? And Asgard? Do we have a new country?" asked Tony.

"I guess I could tell you... for a price."

"Price being I let you wonder around in my house? No way. Out of the question."

It was quite predictable that it won't be so easy. This man was awful stubborn, he could challenge Thor in field of stubbornness and would have a real chance of winning.

"Then what are you?" he took a sudden step forward and pierced his hand through man's shoulder before he could back away. He felt nothing but a slight tingling of energy. Tony yelped and jumped far away from him.

"What the hell?! You don't just put a HAND right through a guy like that! Don't they teach you fucking manners these times?!"

Loki shrugged. "You are already dead and I was curious. What are you?" 

"Already dead? I still have fucking feelings you sick fucker. I am not some-" Stark stopped mid sentence, sight heavily and ran a hand over his face. "Just leave me alone, okay? Go away, forget about this place. There is nothing here for you."

"Oh.. but there is. You are a prove of that. Prove that humans might not be so mundane after all. We might help each other, trade some information. You have been dead a long time. A lot things has changed."

Stark eyed him, smirking slightly. "Yeah. I gathered that already. Wait a minute...you said humans?"

And that how we gain someone's attention. Loki smiled broadly at his interlocutor. "Aye, that I did."

"If you are not human then what are you? You look pretty human. Freakishly tall, sure, but still human."

"I am Aesir. At the moment."

"At the moment?"

Loki only smiled in response. And here we go, that unmistakeable spark of pure curiosity, he knew that feeling well and it was a feeling one could not just push away easily. And Tony Stark has proven to be quite stubborn, there was no way such man would let it go. 

"Well, you are awful informative, aren't you? Aesir, what does it mean? What is so different about you that you are not a human?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"That's the point of asking. I'm not just trying to fill in the silence, you know."

"Answers come with a price."

"Price I am not willing to pay, so you can go now on your marry way in your tight leather pants and don't come back."

That was...disconcerting. He could see this man was curious, he saw the way Stark was taking in all of his appearance, cataloging every detail, trying to decipher him. It was time for a little trick to pique his interest more. He pulled his hand forward and conjured a setting of the stars above them. He glanced at the Iron Man and saw him devouring his little display with his eyes.

"How do you do this? There is no equipment I can see and you didn't use anything from the building. Jarvis wouldn't let you, I would know."

Loki frowned in confusion, who was this Jarvis? Was somebody else in here as well? He looked at his illusion and saw the position of the Sun. He was going to be late. He could not be late. He promised.

"I have to go." 

Stark ceased inspection of his hand and raised his head blinking in confusion.  
"Really? Just like that?"

"Well, yes. Did you not just try to throw me out? Perhaps you changed your mind?"

"What?! No. But you insisted so much you were going to stay; it's just weird you suddenly decided to go, “ Stark shrugged and grinned at him, but not very convincingly. “But sure, feel free to leave, I don't care."

"I have other matters to attend to, but worry not; I shall come back."

"Don't."

"I am quite sure you don't mean that. Farewell Tony Stark of Midgard."

Before he disappeared he heard the man say in confusion, "Midgard?"  
  
  


  
He walked into Fenrir's and Jormungand's chamber and found his sons sprawled on the older's bed throwing a... was it an armchair’s leg? for Haakun to fetch.

"Father! You came! We though you have forgotten."

"I promised to finish my story, did I not? I always do whatever I can to keep promises I give you. There are times were I am too occupied to do so, but I never forget."

He tries not to, but there were times when he was so engrossed in his studies he came back to his chambers late at night to find his sons already sleeping. He never ignored them purposefully, but there were times when he let them down.

"Get in your beds now so I can begin," Fenrir jumped off the Jormungand's bed and padded to his, Haakun closely behind him.

And yes, it was a leg of the armchair that stood in his library that was in his jaw. Loki pinched his nose and sighed heavily. How mother did this all these years? There was five of them! Norns bless Queen Frigga for her acts of heroism. When both boys were under the covers in their beds, Haakun sprawled beside Fenrir's and Hymir curled at Jormungand's feet, he began story of a young adventurer who wondered into the forests of Alfheim in search of a forgotten elvish treasure. He illuminated some parts of the story in the air, smiling broadly when he heard quiet gasps of awe, he always could count on genuine appreciation of his magic from his children. 

They fell asleep quickly after he finished his story probably because of exhaustion caused by destruction of a certain piece of furnishing. He will have to discus it with Skuld in the morning. As for now he entered his chambers and went through his evening routine musing about what he discovered back at the Mansion. Tony Stark, who was he? How could he be dead and... not dead? What a intriguing mystery he was.  

  
  


***

  
  


He came out of the building and climbed up the ladder to the roof of a building. Perfect spot to observe their surroundings, but was uncomfortably on a display, all it took to spot him was to look up. Good thing there weren't many reasons to do so. Since aliens conquered the Earth stargazing wasn't so appealing to people anymore. There was a possibility this would go without any incidents. Nice and quick moving to another place. All that medical equipment was worth possibility of losing one of their informers.

"Agent One-Three-Five, how is evacuation going?" he heard in his earpiece.

"It's in progress, most of the equipment has been already packed and there is only one truck left. Few of the stuff stayed to supervise packing. We should be done in fifteen minutes."

"Make it five. There is one squad of Naglfar coming your way from 46th," said Agent Smith in his ear.

Well, fuck. And there goes idea of a peaceful night. He wondered how was their informer faring, was his or hers cover busted? Or maybe they just got the time wrong. Anyway, they were almost here, no point of wondering about something he had no influence on.

"We won't make it in time, sir."

"Take a few men and go on the rooftops. Try to stall them as long as you can."

"Yes, sir," he answered his boss and switched to his team's comlinks. 

"Two-Six-Nine, leave scientists, tell them to hurry, take all your man on the rooftops. We've got Squad of Naglfar coming from 46th. We have to stall them a little."

"Yes, sir."

"Eight-Two-Two, you and your guys cover the ground. Take them from behind."

"Yes, sir," he heard Michael snort before his response. People he had to work with...

He walked towards the edge of a building where EB-16 was set ready for him to fire. S.H.I.E.L.D. was many things, but unprepared wasn't one of them. He started charging the gun when he looked down, and damn that was some serious fuck up on his side. The truck stood at the entrance from 46th side. Shit! They were positively fucked.

"Two-Six-Nine, move, don't let them get close for more then two thousand feet and get ready for making a clear pathway for the truck later."

"Sir, these are Naglfar we are talking about, sure, we can stall them, but I’m pretty sure it's the best we can do."

"Then we will have to try harder. This stuff is important, agent."

"Eight-Two-Two, you heard? Don't let them near scientists, make sure truck rides through as safely as it's possible."

"It is almost impossible."

"I don't care. Make it work."

Chris saw Aesir riding on their unnaturally big horses, swords in their hands. There were five of them and behind them was a truck full of human Naglfar, treacherous fuckers. He aimed EB at the group and drew a steady breath. Here goes nothing. He fired towards approaching enemy. That was his sign for everybody else to attack.

Quickly chaos emerged, Aesir stood up from the ground and let their horses loose. Soldiers jumped of the truck and started firing back at the rooftops. He recharged for his gun and fired again. And that was a mistake. It drew one of the big guys attention towards the building and he started running towards scientists yelling and waving what appeared to be a giant axe over his head, and Chris couldn’t take him down with EB in time since gun won't charge in time for him to shoot Naglfar before he reaches defenseless scientists.

"Take him down! The one with a big axe! He is running towards scientists! Take him down! This is our priority!" he shouted to his microphone.

Few nearest agents turned his way and started shooting the alien, but Naglfar didn't even spare them a glance, even when their bullets reached destination and hurt him, but Aesir skin was a lot thicker and they didn't do him any serious damage. What those fuckers where made of? He drew a gun out of his holster and emptied magazine on him. Well, he will have to do it hard way.

"Eight-Two-Two, you and your men try drawing aliens away. Two-Six-Nine, kill all the humans," he got down the ladder as fast as he could. "All of you! Hide! Now!" he shouted at scientists who even though were throwing frightened glances towards the fight, didn't stop packing the truck as fast as they could.

He drew out one of knives strapped to his belt and threw it at Aesir who blocked it with his sword without a problem. Yup, didn't think it will be that easy. 

"Hey! Ugly! Came for me?"

"Are you calling me ugly, human? Have you not seen yourself this morning in the mirror? I at least don't have a silhouette of a child and still claim myself to be a man."

He circled the warrior so while he followed his movements he would turn back from scientists. That was him - Agent Chris Townsend dying in a name of science. His teachers wouldn't believe. 

He fired at the alien taking a few steps back. Bullets did some damage to the guy, but not much, he just flinched and charged his way. Oh, what a way to die. He managed to dodge a few blows before he saw an arrow digging into guy's neck and then spectacularly explode blowing his head off.

"What the fuck was that?! Who fired that?!" he shouted into his microphone wiping his face off blood and pieces of the alien.

God, when this will be over he is going to barf and take a shower lasting eternity. And write a report, write a ton of reports, in S.H.I.E.L.D there was no escaping that.

"I ummm... I run out off my ammunition and thought it's worth a try. And I was right," a young girl's voice sounded in his ear.

"You will fill a report back in the base and deliver it to me, agent. As for now... just keep it up," he had more important things to do now. "Get going! I want you all with that truck in two minutes!" he shouted at scientists who continued packing while he wasn't watching. They were tough for squints, he had to give them that. "Eight-Two-Two, how is it going?"

"Pretty good, sir. We managed to draw away three of them."

"Two-Six-Nine? General situation?"

"It looks good from up here. Tell the truck to go, we will cover them."

Chris looked back at the scientists who had packed almost all of their things. He ran towards them and helped packing the last suitcase. He waved to a driver and jumped in. 

"You better hide however you can. It won't be a nice ride."

  
They somehow made it to the base. There he left unpacking to other agents and headed to debriefing room number four where Michael and agent Mills already waited for him, between them sat a girl in S.H.I.E.L.D's uniform and with purple shades in her hands. A bow was laying before her at the table.

"So, I should say thank you, I guess."

"Yeah, you kinda should."

"Sir. Care to tell me what's up with a bow?"

"Well... Few hours before the mission I was outside of town, you know... on a market?” she looked at her hands and started fiddling with her sunglasses. She had a good reason to be worried, common S.H.I.E.L.D agents weren't supposed to go shopping on black markets, they had a selected team who dealt with everything that was sold in those places.” And there was one guy who said he was from Albany, and he had this bow and few arrows with him, and I always liked archery so I bought it. There wasn't much time before the mission when I came back, and it wouldn't fit in my locker, so I took it with me. And when that axe guy came at you I ran out of all my ammo and though: why not? And it worked and it was awesome."

"Yeah, okay, you still have to fill the report and deliver it to my office by morning, remember to pinpoint location of that market. Everything that is connected to it, important and unimportant, doesn't matter. What is your name, agent?"

"Kate-” she rolled her eyes and sighed. “Katherine Bishop, sir. And what do you mean by morning?"

"Six at latest. You may go now."

"Yes, sir."

When she left he turned towards his deputies. "Well, that was something."

"What are we gonna do about her, sir?" asked agent Mills closing door behind the girl.

"I don't know, it's not our place to decide." 

"First of all, you should clean yourself form all that alien bits, boss," Michael smirked and handed him a towel. 

Chris looked at himself and frowned. Thank god there was a bin in the corner, and thank his luck that was the exact moment when director Chang came in. He stood behind him looking at him with frowning with disgust.

"Well done, Townsend. Tomorrow I want full report on that bow girl. Especially her family. Now, if you are quite finished I would like you to meet your new addition to the team. Agent Morgan will be our new informer in Sacramento Asgard Headquarters."

He waved weakly towards tall woman standing beside Chang while wiping his mouth. God, sometimes he hated his job.

“Hello, agent Morgan. Sorry for all this, but I'm not in a best form right now. Can we meet and talk about everything concerning your assignment tomorrow? I'll wait for you in my office at ten,” she nodded without a word and left the room. Good, something Chang said raised his suspicions. “Girl's family, director? Why is that? Do you have some suspicion about her?”

“I saw somebody with a bow like that who was also a damn good archer long time ago, and after working so many years as S.H.I.E.L.D agent I stopped believing in coincidences.”

 

***

 

Sun was barely rising when they met on the grounds. All of them in their full armors, weapons close at hand. None of them could stay in place form the excitement, they were checking their armors, sharpness of their blades, exchanging whispered words. Only Volstagg was unimpressed with their quest, and was sitting on the faraway bench drinking something which was probably ale from a surprisingly large flask and observed them with a smile on his face.

Wishing to appear more unaffected and experienced than his companions Loki tried to keep himself in check, but it was a rather difficult task. He could feel blood rushing in his veins, he wanted to surge into the fight immediately, just to do something. Anything! He started considering practicing throwing his knives into the nearest tree when the rest of their group arrived, Uller in front of them. 

"Go get your horses, we have a long way to go."

"Are we not going by Bifrost?" Thor asked.

And it really was an interesting question. Loki wondered how their troops were to arrive at their destination for most of the night. Was it by one of Dark Elves ways? They were the only race that could travel freely between planets without Bifrost, but were very protective of their secret and even Odin couldn't persuade them into revealing it to him.

"No, my prince, Bifrost can only teleport us into places it is connected to, and only when it is safe. Chitauri base is nor safe nor connected to the Bifrost. We will arrive in more... unusual manner. You shall see when we get there."

They rode out of a stronghold forcing people walking the streets to back away violently to avoid being trampled. It felt good to be on a move, to be doing something exciting. He has been refusing himself fun for too long. The only time he felt alive since weeks was yesterday, when he encountered Tony Stark - intriguing illusion of a long dead human.

As soon as they will be back he should start his examination of inner workings of Midgard's colony management, and get back to that house, of course. But not to soon, let the man ponder about who he was and how he performed his magic, let him have the time to start regretting throwing him out.

"Is all that mysterious veil necessary? I would strongly prefer do this quickly and get back to the feasting," Volstagg grumbled which amused greatly the rest of their companions.

"Cease your whining, this an adventure! Can you not feel it?" Fandral yelled from somewhere behind Loki.

"What I can feel is my stomach and it is getting empty."

After a moment Fandral caught up with Loki and leaned his way to murmur for only him to hear, "The Voluminous one is as always dissatisfied. I wonder how his stallion withstands such weight."

"Just barely, I suppose," he responded in fashion and then spoke louder for everyone to hear. "Worry not, Volstagg. I am sure you will find our enemy's flesh quite palatable if you will be starved enough."

He heard Fandral snicker and the rest of their companions groan in disgust.

"Uller, do we have to travel far to our mean of transport?" Loki asked their commander. 

"Aye, my prince. Sadly it had to be stationed far away from the city."

"What is it, Uller?" the warrior threw him a resigned look and slowed down so he could ride next to him while answering his questions.

"It's a Chitauri spaceship, few of our men managed to intercept during they skirmish with Thanos' warriors."

"How do we know how to pilot it?"

"Someone managed to learn it and we began to slowly taking this knowledge into practice."

Well, this was... unexpected. Chitauri technology was completely alien to them, he never heard of somebody who understood it, and he always tried to be up to date with every man of knowledge in Nine Realms for there wasn't many of them.

"Truly? Who was that? I would very much like to speak with him."

"I do not know who it was."  
That was a pity, but he could always track down whoever it was given time.

The ride was long and all of their enthusiasm was gone when they finally reached their destination. They arrived to what could be small midgardian town, but all the people there wore the same clothing and you could easily pinpoint those who gave orders to the others. They left their horses in the stables and followed Uller to the a large piece of flat area in the middle of which was parked a big ship. It's entrance was open and there was never lasting crowd of humans rushing in and out, carrying big cases and sometimes even pieces of familiar looking armor.

"What are humans doing here?" Loki asked their commander.

"Working, why shouldn't they?"

"I thought they were quite hostile towards Asgard."

Uller looked at him incredulously. 

"You must have been misled, my prince. Humans acknowledge Odin's rule and yes, there are few groups of resistance, but those are just foolish, quarrel seeking youths. Nothing more."

Were they, really? It didn't sound like it when he spoke with that old man, but he could be an exception. But was he? Loki started tapping his fingers against his thigh, but when he caught himself doing this stopped abruptly. Not knowing, what a terrible feeling it was.

"You must be right. And what exactly is their job?" he waved towards humans rushing, observing them attentively while they never spared him a glance in return.

"They are a crew of our ship. Come now, it is time for us to depart."

The thought of flying when there was nothing to prove it was really happening besides desecrate vibrations and humming of the ship was unsettling. He sighed heavily and tried to guide his thoughts elsewhere.

They were escorted to the room where they could dine at the large table at the center of which lay enormous boar. Loki eyed the food sceptically. Not going to be enough for all of them.

And he was right. When all has been eaten Aesir started to get bored, after some time of idle chatter someone must have put Sif's skills in question because there was a duel in progress on the table right before him. Well, at least something was happening, even if one had to constantly be vigilant so he won't have bits of food and crockery in his hair. And face. Generally everywhere.

None of a present except him would admit this, but even watching sparrings can get boring, so he enchanted forks to prod fighters in their calves to distract the fighting. The loud wave of laughter came through the room when one particularly persistent fork forced Sif's opponent to back away and eventually spectacularly fall off the table. The man looked at Loki angrily as his companions were laughing at him.

"Maybe instead of doing magic tricks, you could try fighting fairly, like a man. What do you say, Trickster?"

"Gladly," he rose up, but before they could start the entrance door slid open and Uller came through them. 

"Get ready. We are almost there. Remember our strategy. I want this to go swiftly and without any unnecessary obstacles," he looked briefly at Loki and Thor who were standing next to each other and walked out. 

"I guess we will soon see what you are made of," said a victim of Loki's joke to him.

"Yes, I believe you will. And it is Prince Loki to you, do not forget it ever again or I swear you'll sorely regret it."

The ship shuddered and they could hear someone shout in the distance. They were here.   
  
It was nothing like practice on the grounds, nothing like fighting guard's in the forest, nothing like skirmishes during their adventures. Still, it was thrilling, but also a little bit terrifying. He saw one of the warriors die just before him, his face scorched with a blast from a Chitauri's gun. This wasn't fun, the part where you could die, but it did add certain... spice to the fight. Sometimes he used his magic and was very pleased with the outcome, but mainly he relied on his combat skills. Performing magic was difficult, and he was in no mood to be called a cheater. 

The Chitauri were caught mostly unprepared, but quickly recovered and proved to be rather challenging opponents due to their significant number. It was hard to defend himself, they weren't taking turns in attacking like warriors on the grounds during practice. He started shielding himself with force fields over time which gained him a few comments from Sif, but it was nothing new and he decided to let it slide. There were more important matters at hand. 

After rather long battle, the longest he ever participated in, they emerged battered and bruised, covered in a strange goo which spilled out of Chitauri's bodies. They managed slay most of their enemies, few of them fled in their little ships, nothing compared to enormous vehicle in which they came. When they slowly made their way to the ship a new group of humans came out of it and started methodically removing dead bodies, some of them walked into facility and started to load big chests with Chitauri weapons and pieces of their armor. Interesting. When one of these chest was being carried next to him he stopped the humans and looked inside.

"Why are these items collected?" he asked one of the men, the one with a smarter look on his face.

"We are not authorized to give any information concerning our work, sir."

"Oh, you are authorized to tell me."

"I don't think so, sorry sir, we have to get going."

They managed to take two steps before he straightened up and let a small green light appear on his raised hand what made them stop and look at him warily. "Don't you realize who are you talking to, Midgardian?"

"Umm... I'm sorry sir, but no, I don't know."

"I am Loki. Prince of Asgard. You will tell me what I wish to know."

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry I had no idea," human bowed his head and his partner did the same.

"Let us start again. Why are you collecting this items?"

"Orders, sir."

"Where are they being transported to?"

Human eyed him carefully but answered nonetheless. "Base in Hindarfjall, sir."

"Hmm..." he picked gun laying at the top and examined it closely. How did they power it? What was the range? "You may return to your duties. I'm taking this with me."

"But sir, you can't-"

Loki looked at human with his brow raised up."Oh please, do continue."

"I am sorry. I should go now."

"Yes, you should. Don't let me stop you." 

He stacked the gun under his arm and rejoined the other warriors. Thor smiled at him and he let himself return it. It was a good fight, he was in a rather good mood. His brother clearly took it as invitation to the conversation because he walked towards him and clasped his arm, but then frowned when noticed the Chitauri gun.

"What for are you taking this with you, Loki?"

"I wish to examine it, Chitauri technology is most peculiar."

"Oh. I understand," he smiled again, then looked thoughtful for a moment and left Loki's side. Strange. He quickly came back carrying a small cube in his hands.

"What is it?" asked Loki.

"I do not know."

"Then why are you showing me this?"

"It was shining. I thought you would be interested in examining this too. Are you not?" Thor looked at him, a knowing grin on his face.

Loki rolled his eyes but snatched the cube quickly from his hands to take a closer look. He was going to be very busy here after all. His stay in Midgard could prove to be a nice change from a dusty library and tiring companionship of other mages. It was a pity Mother couldn't be here instead of remaining in Asgard to rule in Odin's stead. She would gladly hear about all of his discoveries. 

  
  


***

  
  


The hall was at it's fullest, the tables were full, wine, mead and ale were being equally as much spilled as drunk, there were stories shared, songs sung. It was almost like in Asgard, the difference was there weren't only the rich sitting at the tables, but also common warriors. Midgard was still relativity new, it was still semi-war zone, rules of their homeland didn't completely applied here.

Loki with Jormungand and Fenrir in tow crossed the hall heading for the grandest table, where his family sat. He had to slow down and make shorter steps when he felt tug of his cape which was gripped tightly by Fenrir, who walked as fast as he could, looking around with his mouth slightly opened. His older brother, on the other hand, was walking close to Loki's leg and was throwing everyone present wary glances. Maybe all these unfamiliar faces will make them behave for once, and he will be able to feast peacefully. But it wouldn't be wise to hope just yet, they haven't spotted Thor sitting by the table, laughing loudly and clapping Fandral on the back.

Next to him, at the top of a table was sitting Odin who was gazing at them disapprovingly. Loki looked at him defiantly and put a reassuring hand on his older son's shoulder pushing him gently forward. What a nice family gathering this will be. 

When they were a few steps before the table his sons, as predicted, saw Thor and quickened their pace abandoning their father, Jormugand at the front with Fenrir right behind him. They sat next to Thor where Volstagg made them space smiling at them broadly. Loki sat opposite of them, between his father's most valued commanders.

"It is foolish to bring them with you," said Odin grimly, observing as Volstagg was filling Fenrir's plate with dishes he pointed since he couldn't always reach them all.

"I would have thought you preferred them not to offend noble's delicate senses at court in Asgard. One would have thought they are only bastards in the house of Odin," he responded pouring himself some wine. Nice family gathering indeed.

All chatter within earshot silenced, everyone was trying to look very engaged in their meal while listening intently, only Thor and Volstagg were too busy trying get boys to eat instead of playing with their food to notice a thing.

Odin clenched his jaw and focused all his attention on Loki."They are spawns of a traitor."

"They are not their mother."

"She was a Frost Giant."

"I can not believe something like this slipped All-Father's notice, but since you didn't know, let me remind you: I am a Frost Giant."

"But you are also an Asgardian, we raised you, we are your family. You are my son."

"And if I am indeed your son that makes them your grandchildren and you will treat them as such,” he put down his goblet on the table with a clang. “They will be raised like I was raised, they will be Asgardians as I am an Asgardian."

They turned towards the boys and saw Fenrir trying to wrestle with Thor, Jormugand observing them and shaking his head incredulously, lights reflecting in beads in his hair. 

"Why you keep braiding their hair in such way, then?"

"I never took you for the man to care about looks, father. I do it because I like how it looks."

"And there are no suitable Asgardian coiffures?"

"If I were to know the king of Asgard was taking such interest in one's appearance I would try to arrange meetings with some court ladies for you, I am sure they would be delighted in sharing their vast knowledge with the king."

All-Father glared at him only and leaned back in his chair. Thanks Norns, conversation finished. Commanders immediately resumed their own activities, not wanting to be accused of listening in to exchange between Loki and Odin. However some of the present didn't feel the need to pretend.

"I am sure you would be able to fill in for them perfectly, my prince."

"Oh, dear Fandral, I do not need to primp or preen myself all the time. Unlike some."

Fandral smiled at him sharply and raised his goblet in mock toast.  
"Of course, you do not, my prince. After all you always are the prettiest person in the room."

"At least I don't have to adjust my appearance so no one-"

"I am sure that's enough. You are both pretty, ladies." Sif interrupted them smiling mockingly. "Can we not celebrate our victory without this nonsense? You could try to have fun."

"Fun, you say, lady Sif?"

"No tricks, Loki."

"But why? Tricks are fun. I recall you laughing at them many times."

"Not always. They are not fun to everybody. Besides, all you do is tricks, nothing else."

"Some of those tricks saved your life a few times or do you not remember?" a wry smile appeared on his face. “I can remind you, all you have to do is ask.”

"I remember, and I remember thanking you for them. I never said they weren't convenient."

Loki gritted his teeth and clenched his fists under the table. No point in starting an argument in which opponent were not ready to acknowledge your point, to blind to see common sense. Instead he turned his attention towards Volstagg who was currently gulping on ale while Jormugand and Fenrir were racing between the tables. Now, when Odin lost his interest in him and was engaged in conversation with one of commanders Loki could ask his questions without him noticing.

"Dear Volstagg, I've been meaning to ask you to tell me about conquering Midgard."

Older warrior smiled broadly and ceased his consumption.  
"Bloody years they were, but we fought bravely, I myself defeated thousands of enemies,” he threw his arms high in the air for emphasis. “They were advancing from all sides, their weapons raised high but it was nothing against Volstagg the Voluminous. Imagine hordes of foul, stinking Chitauri-"

"It was a glorious battle, I am sure, I've read all chronicles. What I meant to ask you is how Midgard looked at the time. What changed since then."

Volstagg looked surprised but nonetheless indulged him.  
"It was desolation, ruin. Humans were fighting bravely despite they poor strength, they seemed to lack proper warriors, any person who was tall enough and was able to carry a weapon was fighting, but few years after our arrival, when we finally vanquished Chitauri, their resistance against us was almost non-existent. They were living in ruins, debris everywhere. It was a blessing for them that All-Fathers army arrived."

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry. I had some serious case of writer's block and just couldn't make myself to start writing.  
> But from now on you can expect new chapter at least once a month.  
> I've decided to cut Jubilee's part - it's gonna be a long fic without it anyways.   
> If there is any confusion don't be afraid to ask or check Marvel Wiki.  
> Thank you very much for your comments and patience.

 

Sometimes Loki thought whole Universe was plotting against him. When he finally discovered something worthy of his attention he was forced to do his duties about which he had time to forget since his arrival few weeks ago. And they were nothing but dull.

Power was something he could understand. Power always sounded good. Respect. Fear. Not this: council meetings, endless debates about the same topic that lasted for hours and changed nothing, speculations, statistics. He did not care who thought what was needed for new base (why not talk about ships? they were interesting), what needed to be prepared before the grand feast in Asgard (the same things as always), oh my, look at increase in crops this year, training of new warriors from Vanaheim will take two more months than we suspected, oh no... what now? the empire will crumble without them. Booooooooring.

How could Odin stand this? Everyday for how many years? Two hundred? Two hundred and nine? Something about that. Poor Thor. He won't last a year as a king. One hour into the meeting and he was already dozing of. Only Loki's gentle nudges and pointed glares from Odin, which could be felt even in one's sleep, prevented Thor from outright snoring. And thanks Norns they did, no one in their right mind would want to hear Thor snore. He was a true master in snoring. It was like a thunder before the storm. Thor Odinson - the Thunderer.

If Loki wouldn't know better he would thought this whole arrangement was a punishment for something he has done. But sadly he has done nothing to be punished for. _Duties,_ what a tedious thing. Could not empire's problems be more exciting? Some scheme or a spy in their midst? No, Loki glanced gloomily around the chamber, it was all crops, constructions and other repetitive affairs. All of this wasn't worth his time. He could be examining objects he brought from their mission, he could be visiting Malibu Mansion and it's host, practicing magic, spending some time with his sons. Even train with Thor. Anything.

Half listening to what was being said in the meeting he wondered how to interrupt it. He rested his chin on his one hand and started taping fingers of the other on the table in front of him. Something small but noticeable, subtle. Something that won't make Odin mad. Well, mad to much.

He considered the councilmen. He knew them all, they were Odin's most treasured subjects, close to royal family. He grew up knowing he will take place among them when Odin decides to abdicate or dies. If he won't be shipped to Jotunheim, to act as planet's steward.

Being a member of a court had its amusing parts, one of Loki's favorites was discovering everything there was to know about everybody who mattered. And one would not cease to wonder how these secrets were not used by those clever enough. Perhaps there were no people as clever as him.

Guilt and shame were such powerful tools. Pity no one used them more often. Well, it saved more room for Loki to play.

Loki sat up straight and hid his hands under the table, folded on his lap. Nice, respectful and proper way a Prince should sit. Odin looked at him briefly but didn't seem to be alarmed by sudden change in Loki's attitude towards council session. The Trickster turned his expression to one of mild interest and did his best to adjust to spirit energy of a man sitting two seats on the left from him. One personalized illusion of a person dead for centuries ready in two minutes.

The air behind All-Father flickered and after a moment Loki's illusion appeared waving gingerly. Odin knotted his eyebrows and glanced at the air behind him, but saw nothing, what made him more confused and prosecuted in studying Loki suspiciously. Trickster sighed heavily and did his best in looking bored. After a moment the King focused on what was being said again, and Loki resumed constructing the illusion. It took a moment to catch attention of his victim, when counselor finally noticed figure standing on the other side of the table he gasped, his face turning white in horror. The man started stammering and making vague hand gestures, making everybody present look around confused, but none of them saw anything.

The beloved general confusion, so little work, so much satisfaction. Loki barely concealed his excitement.

Odin's eyes flickered between terrified councilor and Loki, who did his best to look as shocked as the rest of councilors while maintaining his illusion which was currently crying and looking at its target accusingly. The man in response started apologizing, tears running down his face.

Loki blinked in confusion and the illusion disappeared. This was... noticeable overreaction. He cringed when the man started outright sobbing. Pathetic. This distraction was not supposed to be that much pathetic. To a small degree - yes. But not this much. It just stopped to be amusing and became nauseating.

"I believe this meeting has come to it's end. Hoskuld, if you would stay and answer few of my questions. Rest of should leave," said Odin.

Excellent. He was free for remain of the day. And since he was on the topic of illusions... he should pay a visit to a certain mansion which he has been neglecting due to multitude of his duties.

"Loki, wait outside for me. I wish to speak with you."

Perhaps not so good. But surely, Odin couldn't blame him for this. There was no proof. It was nothing, really. And some mischief couldn't hurt anyone. Much.

"Of course, father," he agreed closing the door to the chamber.

It didn't take long for councilor to exit the chamber, Odin closely behind him. All-Father waited until the man was out of the earshot to glare at Loki disapprovingly.

"And what is the reason behind your decision to torment my adviser? Tell me, my son, why does it amuse you? Or perhaps he wronged you somehow? Was it an act of revenge or cruelty?"

Naturally. Odin's first suspect, first person to think about, Asgardian court's scapegoat - Loki.

"And why do you blame me for an old man's hallucinations? What made you think it was my doing, father? A habit?" he sneered.

"It is your fault so often that it is easy to get in the habit of blaming you. I know it was you, Loki. I felt magic in the air. You were the only one in there who knows how to use magic. It is not a unreasonable assumption."

"And everything that happens is always Loki's fault. Do you have any proof, father? You simply felt magic and thought: Loki! Are you going to punish me for something I haven't done? What a just king we have."

"Do not use that tone when you speak to me, boy. “ Odin growled. “It is your father you are speaking to and you'll show me respect."

Loki bowed his head docilely knowing submitting to Odin's will was a way to get out of this situation. He was distracted enough with matters know only to himself it seemed Loki could escape without experiencing one of All-Father's punishments.

"Mark my words: something suspicious like this happens again I will not fail to find a proof and punish you accordingly. This," he waved a hand towards council chamber. "is not how a prince acts. Not how a man acts. Are you a man or a child?" Odin sighed heavily and put a hand on Loki's shoulder. "You have to abandon all this nonsense, son. War is coming. I need you to pay attention to your duties, I need you to be prepared to rule at your brother's side. He is going to need you. You have to be there for him for a kingship is a heavy burden, not to be carried alone. Do you understand this, Loki?” the grip on Loki's shoulder tightened. “How important this is?"

"Yes, father. I understand," he answered, his head still bowed.

"I do not want situation like this to occur again."

"Of course, father," he whispered. Feigning fear always put Odin in good mood. All-Father knew him too well to believe Loki ever felt remorse in his life.

Odin nodded and walked away. Pleasant as always.

Loki pinched his nose and sighed heavily. A lot of things to do. He already visited few quartermasters seeking information about Midgard. He will have to make sure that when Odin will be ready to leave this part of the colony he will take both of them, Loki and Thor, with him to Fyrisvellir, a secluded area for all non-human dignitaries to stay during their visit to Midgard, a place of Odin's permanent residence on Earth, the center of all colony's administration. A little trip to Hindarfjall would not hurt either. He must find out who managed to master piloting Chitauri ships and what was already discovered about their technology. Shame father did not give him this kind of assignment. Definitely more pleasurable. But Loki was here to be useful, not entertained.

He entered his quarters and walked towards his library stopping only for a moment to quickly to greet his sons and check if everything was in order. Then he locked himself in his study and started examination of items he brought with him after the fight.

He hadn't seen anything like them before. Almost everything concerning Thanos was spoken behind the closed doors, only for Odin and his men to hear. Loki had dismantled the gun and managed to put it back together properly. It was quite a simple weapon, sadly there was no ammunition so he couldn't test it to see the range and power of this device.

The cube on the other hand. Oh that was a real marvel. It gave away small traces of energy and seemed to receive and process energy patterns it absorbed sending them away slightly altered. It was fantastic. He send small dose of his own magic towards the cube and gasped when it lit up more brightly than before. He waited a minute and than tried to find the pattern in changes. After a few tests he found it, but it still haven't answered his biggest questions: what was it for? how did it work?

He bit his lip and turned the cube in his fingers, thinking.

The base was always the same. The whole universe had the same base. Energy. How it was manipulated was yet very very different.

Damn it. Chitauri technology was more similar to Earth's it would appear. Too bad there was no one to... Wait. He knew someone who was supposed to have a vast knowledge in midgardian technology. He grinned to himself and stood up.

It was time for a visit.

  


***

  


It is hard to fulfill your dreams. It is impossible to get exactly what you wanted. You know this since forever,still, you hope for a perfect or at least semi-perfect life. And then you wake up one day and look at your life and then it hits you: you will try hard, try every day, but it won't be enough. That picture in your head? Never gonna happen. It doesn't mean you can stop trying, though.

Jane sipped her almost to hot to drink coffee (black, two sugars) and watched the sun rise up above the city. She had a few minutes before her handler usually arrives and decided to relax a little bit before challenges of day to come.

Charms of working for an illegal, secret agency: you got a man to transport you safely to and from work, she never had to worry about muggers or other dangers from the streets. Her life was a little bit... unusual. Dangerous even. She snorted before taking another sip. Being a doctor: one of most dangerous things to do these days. What would her great grandparents say about that?

Independent from Asgard's authorities, she was practically S.H.I.E.L.D's property. Almost everything in her life she had or achieved was thanks to them. So you want to be a surgeon, but you don't have money to pay off your studies? We can help, you only have to work for us for the rest of your life. No big deal.

It wasn't as bad as it sound. She got to help people: hurt agents and other people associated with S.H.I.E.L.D. It was what she wanted after all: help people who needed her help. There wasn't really a good reason to complain so she didn't. It was as good as it could be living in this world. She should be happy. Finding a job was never easy and it wasn't like she was a fan of the authorities either (bunch of alien-serving douchebags).

She heard a knock on her door and shook her head getting rid of unwanted thoughts. Taking a last look on her cluttered apartment she opened a door.

"Agent Ward."

"Doctor Foster."

He was assigned to her for two months now (since February the 5th) and she wasn't sure if she liked him better from previous handlers. He was quiet and pretty imperative (sometimes she thought it was his natural trait, sometimes she thought it took him a lot of effort to act that way). Some of her previous handlers were like that, but they all had some quirks, few of them brought her coffee every day (most of the time a bad coffee, but she was used to bad coffee), there were those who were nice and talkative, some were rude and always late. He was very... professional, blank even. He never talked if he didn't have to, leading her through the streets, to public communitarian (everyday different), sometimes through sewers, never making any comment about anything, silent, the same expression on his face since they met.

Sometimes she was grateful for this, when she was so tired she couldn't be bothered to socialize, sometimes she wished he would tell something about the world outside the city (due to her association to S.H.I.E.L.D. she was forbidden to even think about getting a visa or making authorities even look at her with something other than indifference) or under the city (clearance level: two).

Occasionally she wondered if he was even human, but there were small changes in his appearance that indicated against her theory. At first she felt unsure around him, now she just shrugged and got used to his behavior. No way of escaping this, ignoring inconveniences was a way to go with S.H.I.E.L.D. (don't ask if you don't have to).

Walk to the hospital was a long one, they took two different trains and a bus, all the time avoiding drawing attention and in silence. They walked close, close enough so Jane would hear murmured instructions but without seeming clingy (never touching, always a small distance between them). They were just part of the morning crowd, nothing interesting, nothing unusual.

He mad her feel safe. It was weird. They didn't know each other, if he was given an order to kill her he certainly would do it. But he chased away fears of every citizen going to work in the morning, walking the streets, taking a bus: unpredictable consequences of street ID control. Theoretically if you didn't do anything against law you should be fine. In practice it wasn't exactly true (law was very... flexible these days). It felt good to have someone whose job was to keep her out of trouble.

They walked in the building that was supposed to be a post office and walked through the third door as usual, a staircase leading to basements (at least thirteen feet beneath the ground). Few dark corridors and staircases more before they finally arrive to the secret level deeply underground. Corridors here were wide and well lighted (source of electricity separate from city's), other agents rushing through them (all in uniforms, all of them carrying weapons, no civilians except her). A city under the city.

They were even vehicles flying around form time to time, every time one flown past them agent Ward gently, but firmly removed her from it's way. It used to annoy her but now she got used to it as to everything else. It was just a background. She slid her card through slot next to the door leading to the hospital, got through eye and fingerprint scans and finally entered her workplace. Agent Ward just after she was behind closed glass doors gave her curt nod and walked away quickly.

Jane was in her domain now, knew all the faces of people rushing about, all the sounds, the smell. She was where she was supposed to be. Her head clear, senses sharp, finally awake and ready. Nothing else mattered now, it was essence of her dream. Helping people, fixing them, making things better. Being able to change something. It was easy to focus only on her work, it felt right like nothing else.

She went through her bucket list methodologically, not wasting much time were there was no need.

One of her patients was an agent whose hand was cut off with a sword. He was given morphine and was currently pretty lucid. Jane leaned to check on his wound when he turned his head and looked at her.

“Hello there, doctor,” he mumbled.

“Hello. How are you feeling?”

“Good. Thank you, you know, for your help and all. I'm feeling great. Really, really great.”

“Glad to hear it. Soon after you heal properly we will get you a prosthesis.”

“Yeah, I know, I know. Go back there.”

He caught her wrist with his other hand when she was moving away from examining the wound.

“It's bad out there, doctor. Really bad. I wish I-” he cut abruptly and looked away.

“Yes? It's okay, you can tell me.” No. He shouldn’t tell her anything. “It's okay.”

“I wish I wouldn't have to go there ever again,” he whispered.

“Go where?”

“To Af-”

“Doctor?” nurse called from behind her. “Is something wrong?”

“No. Nothing. Everything is fine.”

“If you would follow me in that case. You are needed for consultation immediately. Please, don't disturb patients if it's not necessary for treatment reasons.”  
Right. No questions (clearance level: two). She was supposed to patch them up, not gain information about her employers.

All she had to know was that S.H.I.E.L.D. were resistance from Asgard, the last beacon of human technology since almost every database was destroyed during the Invasion. Only S.H.I.E.L.D was able to protect theirs and they guarded all of their secrets fiercely.

Everything build after the Invasion by authorities was censored and created in a way that suited new regime. Some years ago they allowed launching few highly protected satellites to the orbit, but Jane didn't doubt that S.H.I.E.L.D managed to somehow connect to them and use for their goals. If they were able to keep an entire city under ground then they could brake in to the satellites.

Thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D Jane learned how almost every official information was bullshit, she knew most of it already thanks to her parents, but even they didn't know everything. S.H.I.E.L.D. apparently did. All S.H.I.E.L.D'S new acquaintances participated in quick course of how the organization was a human race's savior and what aliens did to their planet (great way of making sure everybody was loyal to them - make every employee hate the enemy).

But they really had a good reason, Chitauri and Asgardians almost wiped out an entire planet, there was nothing left after the war. That's why humans surrendered. They would extinct either way. Besides, better Asgard than Chitauri. Less alien, more easily approachable. So they seemed at the beginning. She had seen what they were capable of doing to agents who had fought them. Most of them died even though she did her best to keep them alive.

At the end of her shift she was wrung out and was fantasizing about her bed, but she felt satisfied. She saved lives of two young freedom fighters today. Everything was worth it. Counting wins, never loses. Her first lesson after she started working.

Agent Ward was waiting for her behind the glass door as usual, blank and unimpressed as usual. He led her through the corridors, stairs and streets as usual. They didn't speak, falling easily into routine. All she wanted to do now was sleep. She stumbled into her apartment and flung herself on her bed without bothering to bid her handler goodbye. It wasn't like they were friends. He was there to keep tabs on her, protect S.H.I.E.L.D's investment, not be polite.

Maybe she will call Darcy tomorrow, they could go with Erick to the outskirts and do some research on that new orb Selvig spotted last time. Not like it was anything to interest anyone but them, stars weren't so interesting to anyone anymore. With aliens invading Earth and all. Shame, real shame. Universe was so fascinating, but no one was interested in it anymore, after it came to Earth to wreck havoc.

  


***

  


This time he had his full armor on and was prepared for rather violent welcoming. Tony Stark didn't disappoint him. The man appeared sitting on the debris-free part of stairs and sighed heavily.

"I told you I don't want you to come back," said Stark looking him up and down. "Dig the new outfit. Nice horns. You have three minutes to leave my property."

"And if I won't?" asked Loki taking a step towards him.

"Remember the last welcome party?" Stark smirked and leaned back, resting on his elbows. "That was nothing."

"No need to worry. I'll be alright."

Stark raised an eyebrow. "Will you? You have your last chance, Mr. Alien, use it well."

"I think..." Loki put a finger on his lips in mock thoughtfulness. "...I'll stay. Are you not curious? Who am I? What happened?"

"I kinda already know what happened and who you are. More or less. And that makes me want you out even more. Jarvis, please run a countdown for our guest."

_Ten._

The same male voice as the last time have spoken out of nowhere.

_Nine._

"Who is Jarvis? Where is he?" asked Loki looking around in search of voice's source.

_Eight._

"Is he an illusion like you?"

_Seven._

"Illusion?" sputtered Iron Man.

_Six_.

"I am a hologram. Do your research."

_Five_.

Loki saw more machines than the last time start to slide out of their hiding places.

_Four_.

"A hologram then. Where is he?" asked Loki careful looking around.

_Three._

"He is not--." Stark scratched his neck looking sheepish.

_Two._

"Not what?" Loki tensed and prepared for assault, knives in both hands, force field forming around him.

_One._

Few nearest machines fired at him almost making him drop his force field. They fired with much more powered than before. This will not be so easy after all. More fun at least.

He threw knives at the machines smiling at the sight of static and smoke coming out of them when his knifes hit the target.

Next few minutes were filled with constant dodging, throwing energy balls and tearing machines from their place, but most of all - getting hit. He wasn't prepared for so many... opponents. Power of their blasts significantly increased which worsened his situation significantly. More and more energy blast were passing through his defenses.

Stark's comments also didn't help. The man seemed to have trouble with keeping silent. After one of particularity vulgar comments Loki stopped for a moment to glare at him and respond accordingly, but before he could make his cutting remark he felt a hard blow between his shoulder blades. He got the wind knocked out of him and and fell on the floor. Before he lost consciousness he heard Stark shout:

"Fuck! Stop! Jarvis, stop the defense program!"

  


He woke up to the feeling of strange presence in vicinity and a frantic ramble. Right, Stark. Will he shut up if Loki pretend he is still unconscious? Probably not. Norns, couldn't he meet silent, polite and cooperative illusion? It had to be an infuriating, prating idiot. Such a loud prating idiot. After rather lengthy soliloquy full of profanities, Loki decided it was time to get up, having a face on dirty floor wasn't a pleasant experience.

"Shut up, Stark. I am quite all right. My kind is not as fragile as humans," Loki slowly sat up and saw Stark crouching next to him, shimmering slightly.

"Oh thank fuck you are awake!" Loki cringed when the man exclaimed. "I thought I'm gonna be stuck with corpses of an alien prince in my living room. Very inelegant. What would my guests say?"

"You don't have any guests," Loki spat blood out of his mouth and stood up slowly squinting at the light in the room.

Now, when the heat of the battle faded he could feel all of his injuries and started wondering if falling asleep on the floor wasn't such a good idea after all.

"No wonder, if you treat all of them the same way you treated me. Very uncouth, extremely rude."

"Rude?! You know what's rude? Breaking and entering - that's rude," yelled Stark pointing his finger at Loki's chest, almost touching it, but cautiously maintaining a distance, even if it did not look like it. "That's a lot of blood, you know? I know you aliens are awfully tough and all, but there's a lot of blood leaking out of you."

"Yes, thank you. I noticed," he winced as he raised his hand to brush glass of his armor lapels. "Where is my helmet?" he recalled losing it at some point during the fight but had been to busy to look where it end up. Everything seemed to be so... foggy. Even Stark who stopped shimmering after Loki stood up.

The illusion raised his eyebrows and snorted. "That's your concern? A helmet?"

"Where is it?"

"It kinda..." Stark scratched his neck and grinned at him. "It kinda stuck in the wall."

"Stuck in the--" Loki looked around and spotted his golden helmet in the air with one horn buried deep inside the opposite wall. "Oh."

He tried to walk towards it ignoring the pain but after few steps he gave up and clutching his side sat on the stairs where Stark was sitting earlier. The illusion appeared beside him, looking worried.

"Shit. Don't die on me now. I thought you were gonna be better at this, with your weird energy bullets things."

Loki tried to even his breathing so his bruised ribs won't hurt so much, but it seemed to be a wasted effort so he glared at the mansion's host and grated his teeth when man shrugged and smiled apologetically.

"My _weird energy bullets_ are not so easy to conjure. Battle magic is not my forte. I never had a good chance to practice. Furthermore I was trained to fight another warriors not machines."

Loki bit his lip holding back a hurt moan. He rarely got this hurt. During trainings all he got were bruises and cuts. Adventures also have been more kind on him most of the time, he always had companions to have his back were he couldn't protect himself.

Injuring Aesir, Vanir and Jotun alike was a very hard task, but so was healing their wounds. They did not got hurt nor mend easily. Healers services were generously rewarded in Nine Realms, but they were few of them. More so since Idunn started producing her Golden Apples. Loki had luck of being a member of royal family so he always afford such a costly treatment. But then he would have to tell Odin how he got injured. He would have to admit to being bested by machines. Loki didn't have to strain himself to imagine the look on All-Father's face. What a disappointment. Such a _weakling_. His son. Why did he bother taking him into his family? A man who could not best a few machines made by a _human_.

"Magic?" The illusion asked surprised. Of course he would not stay silent even for a moment. How is it he did not gone deaf from his own chatter? Probably because he had no actual ears. What have he done to deserve this?

"Yes, This is how we call our technology." Loki closed his eyes trying to gain his composure. He was giving away too much information. He needed to control himself, but Norns, the inside of his head was swimming. Stark snorted and Loki opened one eye to look at him disapprovingly. Was his suffering that amusing? Loki started wondering if there was a way to hurt someone incorporeal. He will have to find something in his books. There has to be a way.

"Funny. What we call magic here is this mambo jumbo with spells, curses, potions and other weird crap. Not some awesome tech."

Crap? Loki blinked and tried hard not to smile. Humans, they had no idea what universe held within itself, not even a fraction of what could they discover. "I see."

"So... What are you gonna do about that bleeding? I really don't want corpses lying around in my house."

"I am not sure yet. I am no healer."

"Can't you... teleport out? To a hospital or something."

"No."

"Why?"

Loki only glared at the man and started to peel off his armor. What he had gotten into? Was it really worth it?

"Whoa." Stark raised his hands and leaned away. "Wait. What the fuck are you doing?"

Genius. He was supposed to be a genius. Were all humans this dense? Such a waste of perfectly fine planet. Couldn't some more intelligent species inhabit it? No, it had to be humans apparently. How did they survived so long without Odin's protection?

"I am undressing," answered him Loki and dropped first piece of his armor on the ground. Cursed thing was very hard to take off, why no one thought about designing armor that could be quickly removed in cases like this?

"I can see that."

What an outstanding demonstration of observation. Loki carried on with his task, his fingers slipping when he reached the areas contained with his blood. He could feel the human watching him closely.

Stark cleared his throat before asking, "Why?"

"I cannot tend to my wounds if I have my armor on."

"Tend to your..." Stark rubbed a hand over his face and sighed annoyed, "you want to do this here?! Can't you go somewhere else?!"

Loki cringed when the man's voice drilled into his head.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because it is hard to teleport and I am severely injured. Thanks to your hospitality." He took off almost every part, a small pile of metal pieces gathered next to him.

"I told you not to come back. You can't expect me to welcome you with wide arms since you fucking invaded my planet! As you can see: I've done some research when you were gone and decided I don't like you very much."

"Curious, were you?" Loki smirked at Stark.

"Fuck you. You know what? Why don't I just leave you here to blood all over my floor," hissed Stark and disappeared.

Loki pulled his shirt off and tossed it at remains of his armor and stumbled towards cupboards in other room. Dizziness quickly increased and he had to support himself, marking the white walls with his blood.

"What are you doing?" Iron Man appeared in front of him just as he began journey alongside the wall.

"I thought you were supposed to leave me to bleed all over your floor."

"Yeah, but I didn't think you will take a tour around the place, you were supposed to stay at one spot and don't move."

"I need some bandage. Where can I find it?"

Stark gasped in outrage. "Where can you- We." he pointed between them, "Are enemies. You are an invader of my planet. Do you have any idea how many people died then?"

"So you will let me bleed to death. You were supposed to be a hero."

"Almost everyone on the planet died.”

"So you will let me die here, on your floor."

"No, I won't." Stark said resigned, "Jarvis, bring up everything we have on first-aid."

"Naturally, sir." said the voice from nowhere and Loki had to fight the urge to jump in surprise.

Iron Man gestured towards the fireplace. "I have first-aid kits stashed almost everywhere in this place. Jarvis, could you-"

"You can consider it done, sir." A metal hand slid out of the fireplace, holding a small red package.

Somehow with Jarvis and Stark's instructions he managed to clean and bandage his wounds, luckily he hadn't brake any bones and injuries weren't so severe as he thought at first. After that he limped towards remains of the couch he destroyed earlier and collapsed on it, falling asleep immediately.

  


He woke up slowly, his whole body aching, pain clouding his mind, constant and overwhelming. He opened his eyes, it was so dark he saw nothing except vague shapes of objects in the vicinity. He took a moment, maybe longer, to focus and conjured small ball of energy which floated high above him lighting up the room.

He took in his surroundings: furniture remains, pieces of concentrate lying around, his blood smeared on the wall, pile of used bandages and gauzes next to opened red package on the ground, his discarded armor, a helmet stuck in the wall. No sign of Tony Stark. Was this a permission to wander around the place? Or his waking was simply unnoticed?  
Loki stood up gingerly, wincing during the process. It would be wise to finally learn spells which could dull one's pains.

Just when he was about to start moving there was a gentle nudge in his mind. He bit his lip feeling a little bit ashamed. He must have been unconscious rather long if Zig was anxious enough to reach for him through the weak mental connection he shared with all his personal servants. The first thing on his mind after regaining consciousness was his new project, not checking on his family's well-being. He acted like a child who was gifted with a new toy, uninterested in anything else but satisfying his own curiosity. He squeezed the bridge of his nose and opened mental link with Zig.

_'There is no need to fret.'_

_'I apologize my Prince, it is already dawning and we were concerned with your absence. I meant no disrespect by intruding your peace of mind. Nothing is amiss, no need to worry.'_

_'I know there is no need to worry. I would feel if anything happened.'_

_'I am sorry, your highness.'_

_'I understand your need to communicate with me, Zig, I do not have a habit of disappearing for so long. I trust you take care of everything while I am gone.'_

_'Of course, everything will be in order.'_

_'Good. If something occurs let me know immediately. I do not want to risk just because some of you may be afraid to reach out to me.'_

_'Of course, my prince. We will be vigilant as always.'_

He closed the connection and raised his head. While his mind was elsewhere Stark appeared before him and was currently observing him curiously.

"Well, it's good to have you back. You really spaced-out here, I was getting worried you slipped into some weird alien coma where you just stand awkwardly in the middle of the room and do nothing. I'm glad you're alive and all, but I think it's really time for you to go."

"But do you really want me to?" Loki asked smiling disarmingly at the human. Everything was in order despite his absence, surely, there is no harm in staying a little longer.

"Of course I do! I wouldn't tell you to go if I wouldn't. Why would I even want you to stay?"

"Just look at your miserable existence, Stark." Loki straightened up and folded his hands behind his back. "You've been here for all those long years, nothing happening accept occasional attempt to break in, you didn't even know your planet was invaded." Loki snickered while Stark watched him gloomily. "Nothing happens to you." he whispered leaning towards illusion. Stark took a step back. "A hundred years of sheer boredom. Are you not sick of all this stagnation? The world has changed when you weren't looking, are you not curious? Do you not wish to know about how I do things like this?" Loki raised his finger and pointed at small green ball floating above them. "You were waiting for something to happen, now I am here, do you honestly believe to be able to go back to your peace? Can you settle for emptiness again? Can you become indifferent again? Now, when so much has changed, now when there are all these new, interesting things to see? I can help you and you can help me."

"What do you mean?"

"We can trade information. Some about past world," he gestured at the man, "for some about new world," he pointed at himself. "What do you say? Do you want to go back to merely existing or do you want to see the future?"

"And why do you think I can't do this without you?"

"As a Prince I have an insight at things no one else has. This is a offer only I can give you. Furthermore, I am convinced you cannot leave this place," Loki straightened up and looked at Stark triumphantly.

The illusion frowned and folded his arms across his chest. "Well, you're wrong."

"Oh, am I?" asked Loki smiling maliciously. "Then pray tell why you keep yourself hidden in here? Why no walk the streets? See everything for yourself." He took a two quick steps towards the illusion who did not back down this time and loomed over him. "Then why were you forgotten?"

Stark watched him warily and kept silent. Loki could not resist his wide smile. Oh, how he loved to be right.

"We may benefit each other, Tony Stark. I do not ask you for much, only answers to some of my questions, you can always decline to answer."

"I know I can. Don't think I'll give you everything you ask for just because you're the first person I've seen in 101 years. I'm not that desperate."

"Good. An answer for an answer then. A fair trade, don't you agree?"

Iron Man thought for a long moment, his gaze cold and set firmly on Loki, his frown deepened and a crease between his eyebrows appeared.

"Deal."

Finally, something good happened this day. Or was it start of a new one? Never mind. Now he had only hope for this to be really worth his time, he hated disappointment.  
"But don't think you can bring your buddies here. If you will bring anyone here and I mean anyone" grumbled Stark looking at Loki firmly. "I will smash all of you. I still have some aces up my sleeve."

Loki knotted his brows in confusion, but decided to pay it no heed, different cultures had to have some sentences that were untranslatable even for All-speak. The message was received and that's what mattered. He wasn't interested in bringing here anybody anyways. No one else would be interested and he would never risk his children safety just to show them something he was not yet sure how worked and if was truly safe.

"As you wish. No other visitors. How about a tour then? I would love to see the rest of your grand estate."

"Umm... How about no?"

"In exchange for one answer. I promise not to enter two rooms of your choosing."

"Okay, fine. Just don't break anything," huffed exasperated Stark and finally took a step back. Loki didn't even notice they were standing so close all this time until the man moved away.

"Wonderful. I shall take my leave now. I am still in a need of healer's assistance."

"What?! _Now_ you're leaving? When I just let you stay? God, you're insufferable. Okay, you can go. I don't even care if you'll come back," the illusion waved his hand and turned his back on Loki.

Loki raised his eyebrows at the man's nerve. How did he-- doesn’t matter now, he has to make this clear.

"Don't ever presume you can command me in any way, human." he snarled and made a mistake of trying to put his hand on man's shoulder so he could turn him around. The way of energy run through his fingers making him shiver. Stark quickly turned around and took a step back looking at Loki angrily. "You are in every way beneath me. We may have an agreement simply because I avoid using aggressive way of making people do what I want them to, but don't let this confuse you, Tony Stark: I won't bow to _anyone_."

"Jeez. What's up with you? No commanding anybody. You take some things way to seriously. I didn’t mean what you thought I did. Just-- Agreed with you?" Stark raised his hand placidly and took few steps back from him as if Loki could hurt him in any way. Loki _should_ find some why to hurt the illusion in his books, it would prove to be most useful finding. "And don't make me remind you again: no touching," said Stark sternly.

"Watch the way you speak to me, Tony Stark, I am prince of your realm too."

Not waiting for human to answer he gathered his thoughts and ignoring the pain he teleported out of the mansion.

  


***

  


He was aching all over his body. A week has passed since his encounter with Tony Stark's security system and thanks to not so legally purchased bunch of Idunn's apples he was feeling much better. He avoided wearing armor and tried not to strain himself to much what proven to be difficult when his sons decided to play with him. He indulged them as much as he could feeling guilty about being constantly occupied with his duties, studies of mysterious Chitauri items, and visits at the Mansion.

He even failed to notice his continuing absence until he saw Jormungand's surprise when he appeared in their quarters for dinner. His older son asked him if something was amiss, looking concerned while the younger one remained oblivious, playing with Haakun at the feet of the table.

Since then he tried his best to repay them for his negligence, spend all of his free time with them, showing them breathtaking illusions, telling stories about epic adventures and conjuring foes for them to slay.

He knew he owed them his attention, his love and guidance. He would rather die then let them live the life he lived.

But wasn't his fault they were at the losing position from the start? Wasn't his fault that whenever they went they would meet suspicion, whenever they went there was someone wishing harm upon them? It was his duty to keep them safe, make them feel safe. Yet the simple fact of being his children put them in this position, who he was, who their mother was. He will always be a reason for every bad thing that happens to them. All of this because of his decision to come back. His _weakness._

Weakness. It might as well be his primary trait. What was he if not weak? Laufey saw that from the beginning, but kept him anyway, showed him mercy, and on mercy Loki depended all his life. Everything he was, everything he achieved, everything he had was due to mercy given him. If not Laufey's mercy he would not have even have a chance to grow out of infancy, but he did, he owed Laufey his life. And yet he dared to hate the man. Could not bare, could not forgive the price that came with his spared life. _Weakling._

Loki blinked in confusion when he felt his fist collide with a stone wall. He raised it and hissed at the sight his bloody hand. Thor might start asking uncomfortable questions if he keeps hurting his fragile form so often. Poor, compassionate fool. Thor's blow would probably gone through the wall and he would feel no pain, laugh the incident off. But Loki was no Thor and he was weak, fragile and easily breakable. He even could not best bunch of machines.

"Father?" he heard Jormugand calling him from behind. "Is something wrong?"

Loki slowly turned around, a reassuring smile appearing on his face. Jormungand was standing in the middle of the room, a makeshift shield loose in his grasp. He was looking at Loki with round eyes taking in every detail, wary what his father would do next. Loki cringed. Well done.

"Nothing, my dear. Keep playing."

"Would you play with us?" Jormungand asked.

Loki smiled more genuinely and almost nodded in agreement, but before he could, he saw Fenrir sitting next to his brother, his mouth slightly open, eyes not blinking, just looking at Loki. Terrified. His own child was afraid of him. It was wrong. It was all wrong. He was supposed to make them feel safe! Be the gentle hand to wave through their hair when they couldn't sleep, not the one to punch the walls startling them. His voice was supposed to sooth them not make them go rigid like a spooked animal. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Everything he did was wrong.

"No. I shall go. Stay with Skuld."

He walked quickly out of his chambers, passed stronghold's corridors and stepped into the gardens where he stopped and sunk down by the nearest tree. He fisted his hair and pulled strongly, but no amount of physical pain could make this feeling go away. This sick, overwhelming taste in his mouth, the ice in his veins.

He needed something... he needed something so badly. Something to make it stop, something to chaste away this feeling... He needed a distraction.

  


***

  


Thor and Sif were sitting on the ground, leaning on the tree trunk and watching other warriors practice. Sometimes he liked spending time with Sif best of all his friends. She understood, supported and challenged him like no one else. He could rely on all of his friends, but they just... weren't Sif. Sif who even when a part of their group insisted on being her own unit. He watched her as she was sharpening her sword, silent and relaxed.

Thor took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He felt constantly tired these days. Since their arrival to Midgard Odin had no mercy when it came to burdening Thor with new duties. It was all for the best, he was well aware, but sometimes he wished he could just be Thor, no the Prince, the heir to the throne. The weight on his shoulder made him restless at nights when he lay at his bed trying to fall asleep. Visions of his failure, disappointment in his father's eyes, tears in mother's.

It all was just... to much.

He felt nudge in his side and opened one eye to look at Sif. "Do you think he is plotting something?" she asked nodding her head in Loki's direction. He was walking at the edge of the grounds, looking tense.

"I do not know. I- You know how our relationship changed since he came back. It is not as it was before and I am afraid it will not change soon."

"Have faith, Thor. Loki's life changed significantly, but he still is the same Loki, your brother. Me and him may not like each other, but I know this: he cares deeply about you, regardless of what he says."

"I hope it would be as you say, dear Sif." But sometimes he thought Loki saw them all as objects and had no place in his heart for any of them. The way he watched everyone: distant, calculative.

"You should try talking to him. You know Loki - he will never try to reach out to you first."

Thor always thought of himself as a good brother. He always protected his siblings if the need arose and tried to spend some time with each one of them. He and Loki for many years were inseparable, they had their own language, always understood one another. It took Loki some time to warm up to Thor, at the begging when he came to Asgard with Odin, but soon enough they have become brothers and best friends. Loki had his... silent days from time to time and shut himself away somewhere to be alone, Thor always did his best to chase his grievousness away.

Loki had moments when he snapped unexpectedly, got angry or even threw a tantrum. This habits of his faded away with years but never disappeared completely. Years living together taught Thor to deal with his brother's difficult character and not worry to much about this outbursts. Loki was who he was and there was no changing it.

Day after day since Loki became the part of their family they were becoming best friends. Loki still got a lot of... sadness he refused to talk about with Thor, the shadow that fallowed him everywhere, even in his sleep.

Thor had no idea how to help his brother besides trying to distract him with jests and foolish ideas. He tried, but it did not seem to work to well. And then came the girl from Helheim and she began to steal more and more of Loki's attention, but he seemed happy.

At first Thor was jealous and unpleasant to both of them, especially the girl whom he greatly disliked, but, after some time and several fights with Loki Thor decided he did not need his brother and could do things on his own. This is how he met his friends.

Sif showed them that day how much better a girl can be in sparring than arrogant boys and beat every single one of them. They all, except Volstagg who only laughed and congratulated her on her victory, felt profoundly humiliated and vowed to dislike her to the end of their days, as all young boys tend to when they are bested in something they considered themselves to be champions in.

This dislike quickly disappeared when the same day, in the evening, Sif sat down next to them in the inn sliding mead and complementing each one on their skills. After their egos has been stroked the decision was made – she wasn't so bad for a girl – and they became great friends.

While he spend all of his time with his new friends and stopped bothering Loki so much something terrible happened, Thor never found out what, to this day his brother refuses to talk about it, because of this mysterious terrible event the girl has been send away and Loki became sad once again.

It took a lot of time and effort to convince him to join Thor and his friends, but eventually he became an addition to their group. Thor wished he could tell they all became friends, but sadly this never came to be. Loki and Thor's friends created some sort of camaraderie between each other and it was enough for them. Loki was accepted as a part of the group and joined them on their adventures. He began to smile more, not as much as while the girl from Helheim lived in the Golden City, but he seemed more light spirited and eager to get all of them into trouble. It was enough for Thor to stop worry.

Soon enough another girl came to steal away his brother. Angrboda. The traitor, the witch, the Forst Giantess. She concealed herself well, even Odin did not suspect her of being anything more than a sorceress who came to live in the Golden City. She wasn't well liked, people playing with magic never were well respected in the Nine Realms.

Loki was drawn to her like a moth to a flame, and she burned him like a flame burns a moth that flies to close. Thor never felt such hatred and anger before. When he heard about her treachery it took all of his friends to restrain him and stop from going after them against Odin's orders.

They were gone for a long time, Loki, the giantess, and little Jormungand. They were fugitives for two turns of the planet. Loki came back with his head bowed, two little boys in his arms. A lot of old Loki disappeared then. His spirit destroyed by her. He was quiet, refused to go on quests with Thor and his friends, spending a lot of time with mother instead. Again, Thor felt like he lost his brother.

History repeated itself and once more time healed Loki and Thor saw glimpses of his brother in the man that came back led by Asgard's warriors like a criminal. But just like the last time, some of his happiness seemed to fade away for good and there was nothing Thor could do. More and more frequently he could not find words to say to his brother, did not know how to speak to this changed Loki. They weren't best friends anymore and it broke Thor's heart.

During Loki's absence Odin started to pay more attention to Thor and began to put more trust in him, shared his plans about his firstborn's future. It did not bring the brothers closer, Loki's jealousy blatantly obvious.

This alienation between them was a reason why Thor ceased pushing Loki about spending time together and let the man keep his secrets to himself. They still were brothers, Thor still spend time with him and counted on Loki to be his right hand and councilor when he becomes a king, but they lost the connection, their bond was strained and there was no way to repair it.

So Thor watched his brother form afar, wondering what kept him so occupied since they came to this place, what made him thinking so deep that his eyes became unfocused. Thor did not ask, he did not expect an honest answer. Besides, he had more important things to do than tire his brother with questions he won't answer. But he wondered from time to time: Was some mischief coming their way? It would be nice, even if unpleasant for most of them, but mischief was something Thor could expect, something he knew well. Thor liked to think he knew Loki.

"I am afraid, dear Sif, I do not know him that well anymore, it pains me to say so, but it is the truth. Loki... changed. He is not the same."

"He still is your brother," said Sif squeezing his forearm and offering a sad smile.

"Yes. Yes he is."

  


***

  


Silence greeted him when he appeared in the Mansion. He waited a moment for a response but was left disappointed.

"It is very impolite to leave a guest unattended," he bellowed relishing in the way his voice echoed in the room.

"Guest," Stark spat the word right after he appeared in front of him. "Are you sure it is a right word to use in this situation?"

"Why don't you show me around your grand estate, Tony Stark?" Loki asked smiling at illusion, he found his hostility extremely amusing. "You must be proud to present it to a first visitor in so many years."

The man glared at him making Loki smile more broadly. He was dead and yet there was so much life about him. Such a peculiar thing.

"First you'll answer my question," said Stark folding his hands across his chest.

"No." Loki tapped his finger on his lips in mock thoughtfulness. "I do no think so. I do not believe you to fulfill your end of the bargain after I satisfy your curiosity."

Honor. Many thought him honorless, but the truth was he always kept his word. Not always in the way others expected him too, but still. They called him an oath-breaker in their anger. Fools. He was a liar, yes, always, but not an oath-breaker. He would be a bad kind of liar if he would not speak truth more often than many would think he would. The trick was all about uncertainty: was he being truthful this time or was he lying through his teeth?

"And how can I trust you to not disappear right after you've seen everything?"

"A promise is a promise, Tony Stark. I keep mine."

"You expect me to trust you when you don't trust me?"

Loki tightened his lips. This was not going as he planned it, a human provided more complications than suspected. Were was pliable, bored human he expected to see?  
"A compromise, then: you ask your questions, I answer while you show me this building."

"Deal."

The man drew out his hand looking Loki straight in the eyes, holding his gaze steady. When Loki failed to response, surprised by this motion, his face fell in realization and he quickly grasped his hand behind his back, frowned deeply and started looking at the wall above Loki's shoulder.

"Shall we?"

"What? Oh. Yeah. Right. So...” the illusion looked around awkwardly. “This is the living room. You trashed it completely. Thanks for that."

"I was attacked, I only wished to defend myself."

"Well, you wouldn't be attacked if you wouldn't trespass my property."

"I was not aware it was not as abandoned as I was told."

"I asked you to leave."

"You are terrible at guest reception. One would think manners were not universal cultural feature."

"Manners?! Oh, shut up. Just- let's go," the illusion waved his hand not looking at him.

They walked up the stairs, passing disregarded pile of his armor pieces. A strange big black chest he saw earlier standing in the middle of the room. He pointed at it.

"What is this?"

Tony Stark looked at him incredulously. "You don't have those on Asgard?"

"No, we do not. What does it do?"

Loki slid a hand on the smooth surface, a dust gathering on his hand. Than knocked on it, hearing an empty sound in response.

"What are you?" breathed Stark, leaning on the other side of the chest.

"I told you. I am a Prince of Asgard."

"A species. Aesir. You told me. You are Aesir at the moment. What did you mean? What are your differences from humans? Beside size, it's kinda obvious all of you guys are huge."

"What is this?" he tapped his fingers on the surface and sat on the small bench standing beside it.

"A piano. What did you mean by 'right now'?"

"I am a shapeshifter."

"A shape- No. No way that's possible."

Loki looked at the man smirking. "And yet here I am."  
"Show me."

"No."

"Then I don't believe you."

"I do not need you to believe me. What is a piano?"

"It's an instrument. Okay. Back to the differences. How is it you look like you're human but you're not. You're really an alien race from space that invaded the Earth, but you look human. God, that sounds like some crappy sci-fi."

Some crappy what? Never mind. An instrument. How one plays on a big black chest? Was it a kind of drum?

"We share common ancestors," he banged his hand lightly at the surface a few times, but the sound was most unsatisfactory. "All inhabitants of the Nine Realms do. After hundreds of years we changed much," he tried his luck at the sides but it still did not sound right. Stark snickered from his side of the piano, amused by his struggle with his effort to understand this item on his own. "took a different paths at evolution of our kinds." He felt a small rift at the front of the instrument. Finally. "Climates on our planets, fauna and flora had a tremendous influence on our ancestors and we drifted apart, with but a few similarities remaining." He cleared the chest from dust with a quick spell and heard Stark gasp in shock.

"How did you do that?"

"You cannot expect me to trade away all of my secrets, Master Stark. I shall keep some matters private."

"But I want-"

"No," said Loki taking delight in look of frustration on the Stark's face.

He lifted the lid and saw a set of strings before him. Was it a kind of harp? He touched one of the strings and it broke suddenly with a broken sound.

"It's kinda rusty, needs a lot of maintenance, obviously there was none for the past century."

"Is this how you play it? Pull the strings while standing?"

He looked at the man who when Loki was examining the insides of the piano appeared sitting on the glass counter by the wall next to them.

"Why don't you figure this out by yourself? You are doing well so far."

Loki hummed thoughtfully and circled the instrument. There was another lid at the other side. He lifted it carefully and saw a set of small rectangular white and black pieces. He touched one of them and it gave in under pressure making another string break with a twang. He smiled to himself in triumph.

"Well done. Shame you can't play it anyway," said Stark.

"And why not?"

"In case you didn't notice the strings keep breaking, they are essential for playing."

"Then we have to make sure they stop."

Loki stood up and gently placed hand at the middle of the instrument. He focused on energy around him. When he opened his eyes a piano, good as new, stood in front of him. Loki turned around smirking to look at Iron Man. Who was gaping at him looking offended.

"Hghg-" Stark snapped his jaw shut and frowned. "HOW?!" he roared.

"Magic." Loki replied and laughed aloud at the sight of illusion's disguised face.

He yelped loudly and took a step back falling on the piano when suddenly Tony Stark appeared mere inches from him.

"What are you?" he asked scrutinizing Loki's face closely.

"An alien," answered Loki smirking.

Oh, how he loved having an upper hand. To see that look of pure irritation on someone’s face. What a wonderful idea was to come here.

"Not. Good. Enough." grumbled the illusion.

"As good as you're going to get."

"Get out then."

The illusion leaned back and took a step aside, his hand showing Loki the way out in a mock gesture of politeness. He even bowed a little bit.

"A promise, Master Stark. We are trading basic information, not secretes. This," he gestured behind him at the piano, "is a secret."

Iron Man disappeared and quickly appeared back on his place on the counter by the wall. His whole posture sullen, but his attentive and very much alive eyes set firmly on Loki destroyed the whole picture.

"Now, how do I play this?" Loki pushed another rectangular piece and the high sound filled the walls. He smiled broadly and kept on pushing black and white pieces trying to conjure melody. Oh, it was fantastic. Marvelous.

"Stop! Just stop! You're awful at this! Stop before I go deaf," bellowed Stark over the noise.

Loki huffed in irritation and ceased his playing.

"Not many instruments on Asgard?"

"No. Not many.” Loki closed the lid shut. “Shall we continue?"

Loki stood up and walked away from the piano. He will learn how to play this instrument, later, when he satisfies his curiosity for other things. He will make Stark teach him.

"By all means: lead the way." Stark waved his hand in a vague direction of stairs. "So. Nine Realms."

"Odin's empire. Nine planets joined under his rule."

"What planets? No one here really knows what's out there. There is a beautiful story about how we were attacked and how Asgard came to save us, nothing about other planets. There are some old photographs with weird looking people: few blue ones, one gray dude, that was a creepy one they were the tallest of all, really, remarkable, and a couple with the biggest ears and hands I ever saw. So, spill," ranted the man while they were climbing another set of stairs.

They arrived to what looked like an another living room, a huge couch placed by a window, a small table in front of it, dusty paintings on the walls.

"Blue and gray ones, like you so nicely put it, are called the giants," said Loki looking around another disappointingly ordinary room. A grand bedroom this time, with a bed even bigger than his at the center, but lacking any personal touch whatsoever, guest room perhaps.

"I mean, I get it: aliens, but blue and gray? Really?"

Loki sighed heavily and sat down on the bed, dissolving the dust before he did so. He received an annoyed gasp from Stark as his reward for this small display of magic.

"Aesir and human differ more internally, we live longer, our tissue is denser. So do Vanir. Some of the other species of Nine Realms differ much more. You will meet giants on Jotunheim. Frost, Storm and Mountain Giants. Blue, gray and... well, more gray."

"And what about other species?"

"Who is Jarvis?"

"Why the sudden change of subject? Another secret?"

"I answered your questions, time you answer mine."

"I am letting you to poke around my house."

"It was a lot of questions. Who is Jarvis? Where is he?"

"Fair enough. Jarvis is an AI. Artificial Intelligence. He is my butler. I created him. Isn't that right, Jarv?"

"You are correct, sir," said the voice from earlier, coming from the ceiling. "Although I should mention I did a lot of work myself."

"You created a person?" breathed Loki in disbelief.

"Yes," said Jarvis.

"Not exactly," said Stark at the same time and cringed right afterwards. "Sorry, Jarvis. It's not like you're not, 'cause you are. One hundred percent. I think he gets it wrong. With all that voodo stuff he's got going."

"I understand, sir," replied Jarvis in his polite tone.

"Thanks, Jarv," Stark smiled at the high corner of the room. "He's a product of our technology. A machine that thinks for itself. So he is and isn't a person at the same time."

"What about you then?"

"Me? Oh. I am... I-" he frowned deeply and averted his eyes from Loki. "I am. I was? A person. I don't really know anymore," Stark sighed heavily and ran his hand through his face. He sounded resigned and tired. "How long do you live?" he asked, every possible emotion he could feel earlier disappearing from his face. "How old is Odin?" he took a step closer leaning in to look Loki in the eyes. "How old are you?"

"How can you still be here if you are dead?" asked Loki in return not backing away enjoying the way Stark's strange brand of energy felt in contact with his magic.

"Leave it," Stark snapped and straightened looking away at the wall again.

"No."

The illusion disappeared without another word. Loki tightened his lips in frustration. Wrong move. He should tread gently now or he will lose this game. He leaned on the tall headrest, which could be easily called a wall it was so tall, and smoothed the soft comforter with his hand, pretending thoughtfulness.

"We live approximately five hundred earth's years. It depends on the person. Odin is... four hundred, I suppose, it is really hard to tell, he almost always looked the same to me."

He heard a snort next to him and turned his head to look at Stark sitting next to him. Oh, the sweet taste of small victories.

"And how old are you?"

"A hundred."

Stark whistled. "You don't look so old."

Old. He laughed. Humans. "I have come of age just before coming here."

Loki watched Stark closely. How could he whistle? How could he speak? He had no vocal cords. How, how, how. Loki had a difficult relationship with not knowing. He hated it and he loved it.

"So you're just a kid looking for an adventure since no one can tell you otherwise now?"

This time his laugh was less sincere and more bitter. Humans. "Just passing the time. I have stopped participating in adventures long time ago, Master Stark. Freedom of doing whatever I please is a privilege I unfortunately do not have."

"So what are you doing here?"

"Simply passing the time. Besides, you did not expect me to follow all the rules, did you, Tony Stark?" The Prince asked him, smiling slyly.

"No. You don't seem the type."

Stark was grinning at him, his eyes light up, no trace of former sadness in them. Loki could see wrinkles around his blue eyes, even count his eyelashes, a wayward strand of hair falling on his forehead seemed so real, natural, sharp nose, square jaw, his neatly trimmed beard, light stubble, dimples in his cheeks. If not a slight unnatural glow and semi transparency Loki would believe an alive man was sitting next to him, not a strange illusion, a reminder of a dead human.

"You're staring," said Stark after clearing his throat and looking away.

"You're remarkable," Loki whispered in awe without averting his gaze.

"I know," Stark replied with a cheeky grin.

"How can you be? How can you exist?"

"We are not talking about that," said Stark in a firm voice.

"Apologies," Loki turned away and looked at the wall in front of them. "It is... I find you fascinating and cannot keep myself from wondering how is it you died and yet... you are here," when his host remained silent he continued in a a quiet tone, "Tell me about yourself, about your life."

"Why?"

"Because I asked."

"Do people usually do what you tell them to?"

"Yes,” replied Loki smiling impishly.

Stark snorted and asked incredulously,"Just like that?"

"Years of practice. Now, we have an agreement, tell me about who you were before you died."

 


	3. I am so sorry

I know i promised one chapter a month, but my life suddenly turned very shitty and the last month was very rough and emotionally exhausting. Also I deleted everything I had written for the third chapter because it sucked.

I have my last exam 18.06 so I'll probably start writing on 20th. I'll have a lot of free time so it should go quickly. If I won't publish a new chapter in the first week of July you can nag me on my [tumblr](http://oh-my-what-an-awkward-situation.tumblr.com/). It's possible I just need some extra motivation. 

If you want to just talk feel free to write anytime. If I won't respond it probably means tumbr fucked up and I couldn't see your message, send another one if you want.

**Author's Note:**

> I would be very very greatful if someone would agree to proofread this befor i publish. I'm not a native speaker so there are obviously mistakes. Sometimes I don't write something I wanted cause I'm not sure if this is real expression or is it a product of my confused mind.  
> I would much appreciate it if you would let me know where I made mistakes. Grammatical, misspellings, words or expressions used in a wrong way, laps in logic, everything that bothers you. I want to improve my writing and that's how you can help me.  
> It would be wonderful if you would let me know what you liked and what you didn't.  
> I know, there wasn't much frostiron, but I promise more in the next chapter.


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